Karoo thunderstorms in the Great Karoo. The Swartberg Pass is not tarred and can be treacherously slippery after rain. It also becomes impassable after heavy snowfalls on the mountain, a not infrequent occurrence in winter. Poet Thomas Hardy wrote of the Karoo in his poem "Drummer Hodge". In "Bridge-Guard in the Karroo", Rudyard Kipling evoked the loneliness experienced by blockhouse soldiers at Ketting station on the Dwyka River while guarding the Karoo railway track, a lifeline during the South African War (excerpts). Karoo The Karoo ( ; from a Khoikhoi word, possibly "garo" "desert") is a semi desert natural region of
Semi-arid climate Diego, California (at its main airport), which has cool summers for the latitude due to prevailing winds off the ocean (so the average annual temperature is below 18°C) but mild winters (average temperature in January, 14°C, and closer to the 18.0°C isotherm that separates tropical and subtropical climates than to the 0°C or −3°C isotherm for the coldest month that separates temperate and continental climates). </ref> Semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate or steppe climate is the climate of a region that receives precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-arid