In this blog post I will be talking about the Global and Local Winds in Tanzania. The latitude and Longitude of Tanzania is 6 degrees 00' S and 35 degrees 00' East. Since Tanzania is on the Continent of Africa it's part of the Southern Hemisphere. Out of the three atmospheric cell's Tanzania resides in Hadley Cell due to being located south east of the equator. The Wind Belt that Tanzania resides in is the Tropical Easterlies also known as Trade Winds. In Tanzania the prevailing wind directions vary depending on what month it is. For example during months of November to March the prevailing wind direction blows towards the North East and in the months of April to October the prevailing wind direction blows towards the South East. All in all The prevailing wind Directions of Tanzania are the NE and SE Trade Winds. Due to Tanzania being 6 degrees 00' S of the equator it is located near the Equatorial Low which is a low pressure belt. Also because Tanzania is 6 degrees 00'S of the Equator it is also located in a special area where the North and South trade winds meet called the Doldrums.
Generally the type of weather Tanzania can experience Varies because of its Latitude and Longitude. Depending on the location in the country the type of climate one can expect can vary. For example in the coastal area of Tanzania a tropical climate is noticeable but it can get very hot and Humid. Being near Equatorial Low Tanzania experiences Hot Air and lots precipitation. This explains why Tanzania has its Dry and Wet months.
Tanzania has only two mountains which are Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. Five type of breezes or winds associated with mountains are Mountain Breezes, Valley Breezes, Chinook, Katabanic, and Foehn Winds. Mt. Kilimanjaro experiences a winds called Serengeti Winds which carried moisture to the top helping replenish its glaciers. However due to the deforestation of Mt Kilimanjaro the possibility of Foehn can be seen in the future due to the trade staying hot. Tanzania's coastline is located near its formal capital, Dar es Salaam. Two breezes that are associated with coastlines are Land and Sea breezes. Tanzania experiences both Land and Sea breezes but only to due the daily wind changes and the variation of the seasons.
I was very interested on how the prevailing winds in your country differ depending what the month is! My country is New Zealand and they are far more south than Tanzania, so we experience the Westerlies while Tanzania have the trade winds. Unlike Tanzania being near the Equatorial Low, a low pressure that gets lots of rain; New Zealand is located in an area of high pressure which causes for little precipitation. Tanzania's winds are different than New Zealand's because in NZ, they experience Foehn winds that move warm air down the leeward side of mountains instead of having cool air carried up a mountain.
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