Abstract:
Every year, cut-off low (COL) pressure systems produce severe weather conditions and
heavy rainfall, often leading to flooding, devastation and disruption of socio-economic activities in
South Africa. COLs are defined as cold-cored synoptic-scale mid-tropospheric low-pressure systems
which occur in the mid-latitudes and cause persistent heavy rainfall. As they occur throughout the
year, these weather systems are important rainfall producing systems that are also associated with
extreme cold conditions and snowfalls. An in-depth review of COLs is critical due to their high
impacts which affect some parts of the country regularly, affecting lives and livelihoods. Here, we
provide a comprehensive review of the literature on COLs over the South African domain, whilst
also comparing them with their Southern Hemisphere counterparts occurring in South America and
Australia. We focus on the occurrence, development, propagation, dynamical processes and impacts
of COLs on society and the environment. We also seek to understand stratospheric–tropospheric
exchanges resulting from tropopause folding during the occurrence of COLs. Sometimes, COLs may
extend to the surface, creating conditions conducive to extreme rainfall and high floods over South
Africa, especially when impinged on the coastal escarpment. The slow propagation of COLs appears
to be largely modulated by a quasi-stationary high-pressure system downstream acting as a blocking
system. We also reviewed two severe COL events that occurred over the south and east coasts and
found that in both cases, interactions of the low-level flow with the escarpment enhanced lifting and
deep convection. It was also determined from the literature that several numerical weather prediction
models struggle with placement and amounts of rainfall associated with COLs, both near the coast
and on the interior plateau. Our study provides the single most comprehensive treatise that deals
with COL characteristics affecting the South African domain.
