Somali Current

a surface current in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of the Somali Peninsula (Horn of Africa). It is caused by monsoonal winds, and its direction changes with the seasons. In winter its temperature is 25.5°–26.5°C, and it flows south-southwest, becoming an equatorial countercurrent south of the equator. In summer the temperature drops to 21°–25°C as a result of the upwelling of bottom water along the African coast. The Somali Current is the beginning of the general eastern drift. It flows at a rate of 1–3 km per hr.