Tropical cyclone Dera, the unusual 2000/01 tropical cyclone season in the South West Indian Ocean and associated rainfall anomalies over Southern Africa

Austral summer 2000/01 in the southern African region was unusual in several respects. Tropical cyclone activity in the southwest Indian Ocean was substantially less than average despite large areas of this region showing anomalously warm sea surface temperatures (SST) for much of the season. Many areas of southern Africa experienced above average rainfall with local flooding in parts of Mozambique. In the tropical southeast Atlantic, a large warm SST anomaly evolved off the coast of Angola and northern Namibia in late summer suggesting a Benguela Niño event. During the late summer (February–April 2001), three particularly widespread and intense wet spells occurred over tropical southern Africa, one of which coincided with tropical cyclone Dera.