Rainfall for 2012

I don't know the numbers, but I do have some pics that may or may not give an indication, both taken on 25 Feb 2012. I have never seen either river before so I am not sure if they where full or empty by normal standards, but I do know that I had to take my shoes off to cross the Didima River due to how high the water level was.

This was taken on the path in Lesotho that goes to the Yodelers Cascades, about 2km South of Ndumeni Dome, about 1km before you reach those 2 Basotho huts:


This is the Didima River just before its confluence with the Thlanyako River, by the Didima Campsite:

Here are some satellite derived estimates of rainfall since early summer.
First, anomaly (anomaly=total for this season - long term mean). Negative anomalies are drier than normal.



and the percentage of normal (so 100% shading = average rainfall for the season so far when compared to the long term mean, 50% = half of expected)


So far the season has been much drier than usual. Surprising because it is a La Nina year which is, on average, wet in southern african summer rainfall region.

In oz though, La Nina has been very pronounced the last 3 years with floods in Queensland last year Feb and now in New South Wales this Feb/March. I always thought that it affected both South Africa and Australia to the same degree each season, perhaps not. Climate is a hard thing to track and predict.