<blockquote>
<p>The Somali Desert is in the rain shadow region of the Ethiopian
Highlands. This has contributed to the aridity of the region. The
diversion of moist air to the low-pressure regions in the South West
Monsoon of Asia.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a paraphrased piece of text from Quora. It is Notable how dry Somali is, which I regularly notice when looking at maps, how the color changes from green to rust red on a map as you move to Somali</p>
<p>The rain shadow effect is the reason of the cause of most deserts that were not victims of the Earth Rotational Adjustments for thousands of years.</p>
<p>El Nino is also Contributing to the droughts in Somali according to Wikipedia also Human Conflicts and wars also contribute to droughts that help the desertification of Somali</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-13T16:52:49.407Z
2021-06-13T16:52:49.407Z
Tardy
<p>Most deserts are a result of the rainshadow effect, cold currents, the subtropical ridges, or a combination of those. Knowing this, how is the Somali desert caused?</p>
<p>It is notable since it has a desert climate close to the equator, which is known for being wet. Furthermore, it is on the East Coast of Africa, and Eastern Coasts within 0 to 45 degrees latitude are almost always wet.</p>
<p>I've searched and read about the rainshadow effect of the Ethiopian highlands causing the rainshadow effect. However, the trade winds go towards the East, which should make Somalia even wetter. I've read about the monsoon effect, which would explain the rainshadow effect... for the summer. In the winter, however, the wind should bring moist air back to Somalia. So if anything, Somalia should be a tropical Mediterranean climate. Reports say that entire years can go by without rain though.</p>
<p>In summary, my question asks for the cause(s) of the Somali desert being so dry and why it isn't a Mediterranean climate.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-13T06:56:11.837Z
@gansub I certainly don't know much about the area, and thought cold SST might be a big factor, but [AVHRR](http://dragmetostorm.com/models/sst/avhrr-sst-globe.png) suggests SST in the 70s\80s now. And though surfaces obs seem hard to come by, found HCMF (Bosaso) on the coast had Td of 75F (24C) today and [plenty of time during the year typically](https://i.imgur.com/IfrDfBe.png) >= 70F (21C). So it seems it must be something more dynamical, and surprise the seabreeze doesn't at least do more. I think I heard something about the AEJ being important in that region's climate back when a student?
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-13T11:26:10.310Z
@gansub Certainly there can be danger in a single day look, though being March, I'd have figured it should be a middle point for the year. But I see in the frequency of Td >= 70 plot that the highest moisture may be spring and fall, so yeah I guess, not knowing the area at all, that's a sign the upwelling hasn't set in yet? But I think both plots indicate there should be decent periods during the year with enough moisture... so what is limiting things during fall\spring atmospherically, persistent anticyclone?
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-24T12:39:29.090Z
@gansub can you convert this discussion into an answer?
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-11T23:37:14.427Z
@gansub there you go
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-12T16:30:34.030Z
Curious if desertification should be considered... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
f.thorpe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-11T10:41:46.117Z
Here is a very interesting article on a 17 million year old Whale that was discovered east of Lake Turkana. The article illustrates that the whale died at a time just prior to the uplift that caused the drying in East Africa. Just a rather interesting add on what has all ready been identified above. [Whale fossil, 17 million years old, provides first exact date for East Africa's puzzling uplift](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150317112036.htm)
karisiasafaris
<climate><ocean-currents><monsoon><coastal-desert>
Why is Somalia so dry?
Tateran
# Why is Somalia so dry?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-11)

Most deserts are a result of the rainshadow effect, cold currents, the subtropical ridges, or a combination of those. Knowing this, how is the Somali desert caused?

It is notable since it has a desert climate close to the equator, which is known for being wet. Furthermore, it is on the East Coast of Africa, and Eastern Coasts within 0 to 45 degrees latitude are almost always wet.

I've searched and read about the rainshadow effect of the Ethiopian highlands causing the rainshadow effect. However, the trade winds go towards the East, which should make Somalia even wetter. I've read about the monsoon effect, which would explain the rainshadow effect... for the summer. In the winter, however, the wind should bring moist air back to Somalia. So if anything, Somalia should be a tropical Mediterranean climate. Reports say that entire years can go by without rain though.

In summary, my question asks for the cause(s) of the Somali desert being so dry and why it isn't a Mediterranean climate.

**Tags:** climate, ocean-currents, monsoon, coastal-desert

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @gansub I certainly don't know much about the area, and thought cold SST might be a big factor, but [AVHRR](http://dragmetostorm.com/models/sst/avhrr-sst-globe.png) suggests SST in the 70s\80s now. And though surfaces obs seem hard to come by, found HCMF (Bosaso) on the coast had Td of 75F (24C) today and [plenty of time during the year typically](https://i.imgur.com/IfrDfBe.png) >= 70F (21C). So it seems it must be something more dynamical, and surprise the seabreeze doesn't at least do more. I think I heard something about the AEJ being important in that region's climate back when a student?  
> **username_1**: @gansub Certainly there can be danger in a single day look, though being March, I'd have figured it should be a middle point for the year. But I see in the frequency of Td >= 70 plot that the highest moisture may be spring and fall, so yeah I guess, not knowing the area at all, that's a sign the upwelling hasn't set in yet? But I think both plots indicate there should be decent periods during the year with enough moisture... so what is limiting things during fall\spring atmospherically, persistent anticyclone?  
> **username_2**: @gansub can you convert this discussion into an answer?  
> **username_2**: @gansub there you go  
> **username_3**: Curious if desertification should be considered... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification  
> **username_4**: Here is a very interesting article on a 17 million year old Whale that was discovered east of Lake Turkana. The article illustrates that the whale died at a time just prior to the uplift that caused the drying in East Africa. Just a rather interesting add on what has all ready been identified above. [Whale fossil, 17 million years old, provides first exact date for East Africa's puzzling uplift](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150317112036.htm)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-06-13. Score: 2

> The Somali Desert is in the rain shadow region of the Ethiopian
> Highlands. This has contributed to the aridity of the region. The
> diversion of moist air to the low-pressure regions in the South West
> Monsoon of Asia.

This is a paraphrased piece of text from Quora. It is Notable how dry Somali is, which I regularly notice when looking at maps, how the color changes from green to rust red on a map as you move to Somali

The rain shadow effect is the reason of the cause of most deserts that were not victims of the Earth Rotational Adjustments for thousands of years.

El Nino is also Contributing to the droughts in Somali according to Wikipedia also Human Conflicts and wars also contribute to droughts that help the desertification of Somali


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