Northward bursts of the West African monsoon leading to rainfall over the Hoggar Massif, Algeria

2009

The Hoggar Massif is a comparatively populated region in the Sahara, where water supply is a critical problem due to the lack of nearby sources and unaffordable water pumping. In the present paper, we analyse the influence of the West African monsoon (WAM) on precipitation over the Hoggar during summer. We investigate (1) two rainfall events during 23-27 July 2006, accounting for almost half of the precipitation of this year, and (2) the representativity of this period with regard to ERA-40 ECMWF re-analyses (1979 to 2001). By the end of July 2006, two consecutive northward bursts of the WAM flow reached the Hoggar and caused an increase in low-level humidity. In the afternoon of these days…