Summary of Geography and Climate of Cape Town, South Africa

At the southern tip of South Africa, you can find the beautiful city known as Cape Town. In the next two paragraphs, I will discuss and summarize, from my research, the geography and climate of Cape Town, South Africa.

GEOGRAPHY
The most distinctive landmark in Cape is known as Table Mountain. This national monument and National Park of South Africa forms a beautiful backdrop and dominates the skyline of the city. It has a plateau of over 3,300 ft. high and surrounded by near-vertical cliffs. Sometimes a thin-strip of clouds hang over the mountain, which is locally called the "tablecloth". Besides Table Mountain, the rest of Cape is also very mountainous. There are over seventy peaks over 1,000 ft. within Cape's city limits. However, the suburbs, and living area of the residents there are located on flat land or as known by the people of Cape, as simply, "The Flats". These flats lie on a rising marine plain consisting mostly of a sandy geology.

CLIMATE
Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate with Winter and Summer seasons. Neither season gets too hot or too cold, but both are still well-defined. Winter, which lasts from May to September, endure large cold fronts that come across the Atlantic Ocean with strong north-westerly winds. The average minimum teperature in the winter is 45 degrees F. Most of the cities annual rainfall occurs during the winter, but due to mountainous geography, rainfall amounts for specific areas vary. Valleys and coastal plains average around 20 in. of rain per year, while mountain areas average around 60 in. per year. Summertime, which lasts from November to March, is warm and dry. In the summer, the winds are not as strong and come from the southeast. They are known as the Cape Doctor because they blow away any pollution and clean the air. Summer temperatures are mild with an average of around 79 degrees F. The only times when Cape Town can be uncomfortably hot is when the mountain wind blows from the "Karoo interior" (a semi-desert area of South Africa) for a couple weeks in February or early March. Otherwise, temperatures are very reasonable and comfortable throughout the year.