Southern Africa (SAF) (roughly defined as the region below 10 oS) is entering its rainy season, following the southward movement of the rain band [1]. Some Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) are present over the northern SAF fringes (Fig. 1), however, the rest of the region is either under clear skies or under low cumulus clouds.
Figure 1: Infra+ imagery with pseudo-colours for cloud top temperatures <-33oC, indicative of deep convection.
The Angola Low [2] pressure system has also formed over the region of SE Angola (Fig. 2). At this stage it is characterized as a heat low pressure system that is formed due to excess surface heating. Its vertical structure extends up until 600-700 hPa and is characterized by low surface humidity (Fig. 3). Details on its synoptic characteristics are provided in Howard and Washington (2018).
Figure 2: Surface temperature (shaded) and surface pressure contours.
Figure 3: Relative humidity at the surface (shaded) and surface pressure contours.
*All maps are taken from Windy