Heatwave databases

The data files contain heatwave events that occurred over southern Africa for the period 1979 to 2022. The events were calculated using the South African Weather Services (SAWS) definition. The definition states that a heatwave is defined as a period of at least three consecutive days where the daily maximum temperature is 5 degrees or more above the mean maximum temperature of the hottest month (SAWS, 2024). The file "HW_db_short.txt" includes all heatwave events (associated with and without Rossby wave breaking (RWB)). The file "HW_only_all.txt" includes the heatwave events not associated with RWB. The remaining files include heatwave events associated with RWB on specific isentropic levels (where 360k represents the 360 K isentrope, for example).<br><br>The first column has the start date (of the heatwave), the second column has the end date, the third column has the duration, the fourth column has the maximum temperature, the fifth and sixth columns have the latitudes and longitudes, and lastly, the seventh column includes the number of affected grid points.