🇸🇸South Sudan

South Sudan (approximately 644,000 km²) spans the tropical wet-dry savanna zone between 3°–12°N in the Upper White Nile Basin, encompassing one of Africa's most dynamic and vulnerable climate systems. The young nation (independent since 2011) features diverse topography: the vast Sudd wetland system—Africa's largest freshwater swamp spanning up to 57,000 km² during peak floods—acting as a massive evaporation sink where the White Nile loses roughly half its volume; the clayey flood plains of the Sobat and Bahr el Ghazal rivers experiencing seasonal inundation patterns; the southeastern Imatong Mountains reaching 3,187 m at Mount Kinyeti with relatively higher rainfall; and the semi-arid northern borderlands transitioning toward Sahel conditions.

The climate is predominantly Köppen Aw (tropical savanna) and Am (tropical monsoon) with mean annual temperatures ranging from 26°C in the southern wetlands to 29°C in the northern drier zones. Annual precipitation averages 900–1,200 mm across most of the country, concentrated in a single May–October wet season driven by the Intertropical Convergence Zone migration, with the Imatong Highlands receiving up to 1,800 mm while northern areas drop below 700 mm. This rainfall concentration creates extreme seasonal contrasts in hydrology, agriculture, and habitability, making South Sudan acutely sensitive to climate variability and change.

Juba (southern clay plains, elevation 460 m, 4°51'N) averages 24°C in January and 28°C in April with approximately 1,020 mm annual precipitation concentrated May–October; the dry season November–March brings dusty harmattan winds and temperatures exceeding 40°C, while the June 2024 heatwave forced widespread school closures when temperatures reached 43°C with dangerous heat index values exceeding 50°C during the brief pre-monsoon peak.

Wau (western Bahr el Ghazal region) registers 26°C in December and 30°C in March with 1,100 mm, experiencing flash flooding during peak rains. Malakal (Upper Nile, White Nile riverbank) records 25°C in January and 30°C in March with 750 mm, situated in the drier northern transition zone.

The severe 2019–2022 multi-year White Nile floods inundated vast areas repeatedly: October 2019 saw exceptional flooding affecting 800,000 people across Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile states; 2020 floods displaced over 625,000 as the White Nile overflowed continuously; December 2021 flooding affected 835,000 people in what aid agencies called the worst flooding in over 60 years, with the Sudd wetland expanding to its largest extent since the 1960s, submerging entire towns including Bentiu and Bor for months; and October 2022 floods impacted over 900,000 people as water levels remained persistently high.

The 2023 and 2024 Jonglei floods continued the pattern, with permanent waterlogging transforming formerly arable land into open water. Climate projections indicate South Sudan is warming at more than twice the global average rate—among the fastest in Africa—with models suggesting 1.7–2.1°C increase by mid-century under moderate scenarios.

This accelerated warming intensifies evaporation rates in the Sudd, alters rainfall timing and intensity, and creates dangerous climate-conflict feedback loops as pastoralists and farmers compete for shrinking habitable land, exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis in a nation where over 9 million people require humanitarian assistance.

Our archive covers 0 South Sudanese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.