The first 20 years at the Cape of Good Hope (1652–1671): weather, climate and society

The Dutch arrived at the Cape (southernmost Africa) in April 1652 to establish a permanent station to replenish ships sailing between Europe and the East. We use the Dutch East India Company day registers to construct a weather and climate chronology for central Cape Town (CT) over the years 1652–1671. We also investigate weather/climate impacts on society over these years, and the associated coping/adaptive measures undertaken. Daily weather information (e.g. rainfall, wind, perceived temperature, storms, hail, snow, frost) was extracted from the registers and chronologically organized. Weather-related impacts (including on shipping) and societal responses are explored within temporal contexts (monthly to inter-annual). The CT climate of 1652–1671 had relatively (compared with more recent times) few rain days, yet experienced heavy rains at times, with consequential flooding. Summers were windy, very dry and felt hot at times. Winters seemed particularly cold, stormy and harsh at times, more so than those of the 19th -21st centuries, as evidenced by accounts of snow, frost and hail. The early 1650s and early to mid-1660s were particularly anomalous climatic periods and likely reflect conditions associated with reduced solar heating and increased volcanic forcing during the early Maunder Minimum.