Southern Africa Heatwave Events from 1979 to 2022

Southern Africa heatwave events from 1979 to 2022, calculated using the South African Weather Services definition. The dataset, authored by Jessica van der Westhuizen and last updated in April 2026, includes separate files for events with and without Rossby wave breaking associations.

Use Cases

• Analyzing heatwave frequency and duration trends based on the defined event periods.
• Studying the spatial distribution of heatwaves based on the latitude and longitude columns.
• Investigating the relationship between heatwaves and Rossby wave breaking based on the categorized event files.
• Modeling the intensity of heatwave events based on the recorded maximum temperature anomalies.

Strengths

• Covers a 43-year time range from 1979 to 2022.
• Events are defined using a formal, cited meteorological standard (SAWS, 2024).
• Data is categorized to distinguish events associated with specific atmospheric processes (Rossby wave breaking).

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is small (111.5 KB), indicating a limited scope of records.

Provenance

Source

Jessica van der Westhuizen via figshare.

Collection Method

Calculated from temperature data using the South African Weather Services (SAWS) heatwave definition.

Time Range

1979 to 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04 23 14:09:44; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Africa