Parts of the northern half of Africa experience unusually cold Winter 2021/2022.
Large parts of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, eastern Algeria, Niger, Chad, Nigeria, and even northernmost Cameroon reported from 1. December 2021 to 10. February 2022 very cold temperature anomalies, so far and it appears, that an important contribution to this untraditional circulation pattern was associated with anomalously strong pressure systems with origin in Icelandic lows in the region.
Icelandic low in from of Mediterranean lows in the last months very frequently hit parts of the eastern half of Sahara, with a result of one of the coldest winters in history (Egypt, Libya), or at least, in 21. century.
This anomalously cold pattern however hasn´t hit only the southeastern Mediterranean, but cold anomaly was spreading far to the south, and probably with some help from the equatorial low-pressure zone above the Sahel, it has created special conditions above the northern half of Africa, with airflow of extremely cold, Arctic air masses, far to the south – above subequatorial Chad and Niger or even equatorial Nigeria or Cameroon.
While in Egypt and Libya, frosts appeared not only in the Mediterranean coast and basins below 1000 MASL but in southern parts of countries in Saharan oases, too, in Chad and Niger, ground frosts should near these anomalous conditions surprise many regions.
Above Nigeria and Cameroon, a very cold harmattan should appear during Winter 2021/2022.
On the other hand, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, or the western Sahel, such as Sudan were mostly very hot, without the effect of strong East-Mediterranean lows.
The cold anomaly was reaching above Greece and Turkey in the north and Israel in the east.
Even some Western African states such as Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso or Ghana reported regional below-average Winter 2021/2022 conditions, linked with large African anomaly.
It appears, that Rossby waves thanks to climate change should during AO- and NAO- phases be shifting more and more southward, in comparison with the previous decades, which should be a reason for anomalous snowfalls in Algerian Ain Sefra in the last years /https://mkweather.com/snowing-in-sahara-is-more-and-more-frequent-4-of-5-snowfalls-in-ain-sefra-algeria-occurred-after-2016-including-the-last-days-batna-algeria-70c//.
“A cold winter” should be therefore nowadays surprisingly more mentioned expression in many African countries.
Spring (Autumn) and Summer (Winter) 2022 forecasts for Africa you will find here: https://mkweather.com/spring-and-autumn-2022-forecast-for-africa-mostly-stormy-and-hot-south-colder/; https://mkweather.com/summer-and-winter-2022-forecast-for-africa/.
Illustration map: Source: https://psl.noaa.gov/data/composites/day/
Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/atmospheric-pressure
Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/2340767/
Source of composites: https://psl.noaa.gov/data/composites/day/
