The Agulhas Current is much the strongest western boundary current in the Southern Hemisphere transporting about 65 Sv of warm water along the southeast coast. The authors note that, for the coastal region immediately adjacent to the current, warmer sea-surface temperatures can drive mesoscale secondary circulations and greater low-level convergence of moisture, affecting the regional atmosphere above it.

Especially for the southeast coast, the air masses that reach the continent accumulate heat and moisture by travelling from the Indian Ocean over the warm Agulhas Current towards the continent, favouring precipitation in that region. The paper also states that the Agulhas Current is a region of high moisture and heat fluxes into the atmosphere.

Through sea surface temperatures and associated air-sea fluxes, the Agulhas Current system also influences regional climate in southern Africa. Annual mean temperatures at Durban are almost 5 °C warmer than those at Alexander Bay. Large surface heat fluxes were associated with the southern Agulhas Current, and latent heat fluxes in the central Agulhas Current have been found to be much greater in the core of the current than further seawards, leading to modifications of the marine boundary layer and increases in precipitable water content as air advected across the current.

“Agulhas Current, surface oceanic current that forms the western boundary current of the southern Indian Ocean. It flows southward along the southeast coast of Mozambique and the coast of South Africa before turning eastward to join the flow from Africa to Australia. A small part of Agulhas water apparently continues westward around the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean.”

“The Agulhas Current is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong.” “As the Agulhas Current flows south along the African east coast, it tends to bulge inshore frequently, a deviation from the current's normal path known as Agulhas Current meanders (ACM).”

“The Agulhas Current, a warm and salty current, carries Indian Ocean water along the east coast of South Africa, passing Durban and Port Elizabeth, in the direction of Cape Town, and ultimately towards the comparatively cooler and fresher South Atlantic Ocean.” “Beneath it, the Agulhas Current, the ocean current which hugs the east coast of South Africa, roars towards the South Atlantic.”

A warm Current creates a high temperature gradient with the surrounding ocean, leading to a large turbulent flux of moisture from ocean to atmosphere. The study uses observations and model output to show that the warm core of the Agulhas Current drives a band of precipitation along the east coast of South Africa when the Current is adjacent to the coast.

“The AC flows poleward persistently along the east coast of South Africa until reaching the southern tip of Africa; then, the AC either alters to flow eastward to feed the Agulhas Return Current (ARC) or intrudes into the southern Atlantic Ocean as a westward protrusion (defined as a loop current in this study) or by shedding rings and/or eddies due to the absence of coastal support.” “Figure 2 shows the monthly average latitude of the STF spanning the 1993–2021 period, indicating that the southern boundary of the AC varies mainly from 37° to 42°S.”

“South Africa has one of the fastest and strongest flowing currents in the world running along its east coast: the Agulhas Current. It influences local as well as global rainfall and climate.” “The Agulhas Current transports warm tropical Indian Ocean water southwards along the South African coast. It modulates the rainfall along the east coast and interior regions of South Africa by providing the latent heat of evaporation needed for onshore wind systems to pick up moisture and carry it inland.”

On the east coast, the Agulhas current brings warm water from the tropics which is not very rich in nutrients. The climate is subtropical. Recent studies have shown that surface waters along South Africa’s subtropical east coast are warming significantly and this has been linked to warming and strengthening of the Agulhas current.

“The Agulhas Current appears as a rapid flow 1500 kilometers long and 300 kilometers wide between the South African coast and the topographic high of the largest of these eddies.” “The Agulhas Current turns east at about 40°S, 20°E and flows eastward with the West Wind Drift, the boundary between the two currents approximately coinciding with the Subtropical Convergence.”

The report notes that the Agulhas Current system and sea surface temperatures in the South West Indian Ocean affect "the level of coastal rainfall" along South Africa's coast. It emphasizes that the current’s warm waters and associated air–sea interactions have local and coastal effects on rainfall patterns, in addition to broader climate-change influences on the region.

“Having passed by the southern tip of the Agulhas Bank, at about 19°E, the current turns abruptly south carrying its water as far as the 42°S parallel before moving in a north-easterly direction.” “The current turns back on itself in a tight loop, called the Agulhas Current Retroflection, with most of its waters contained in this swift recurvature before they flow back into the South Indian Ocean.”

The Agulhas Current, located in the Indian Ocean, is **one of the most energetic ocean current systems in the world**.[7] Subtropical western boundary currents like the Agulhas are strong, narrow, deep and **warm. Just like the Gulf Stream up north, it moves heat from the warm tropics to colder latitudes, moderating Earth’s climate and shaping weather patterns on sea and land.**[7] The Agulhas system **influences regional storm development and can wreak havoc in the form of extreme rainfall events and tornadoes over Southern Africa**, indicating a strong coupling between the warm current and atmospheric conditions over adjacent coastal regions.[7]

“The Agulhas Current is a very narrow western boundary current which flows from approximately 27°S to 34°S along the east and south coasts of South Africa.” “Coastal sea level variations along the South African coastline are influenced by both local and remote forcing, including the Agulhas Current dynamics.”

The paper describes the Agulhas Current as a strong western boundary current carrying warm water southward along the southeast coast of Africa, and discusses coastal ocean dynamics dominated by this current.

“The Agulhas Current, characterized by a stable northern portion, transports warm salty water along Africa's southeastern coast before bending back and transforming into a wiggly, turbulent washing machine off the coast of South Africa.” “Most of this water will curve eastward, joining the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, while the rest will break off to create warm spinning structures called Agulhas rings, leaking heat and salt into the South Atlantic and contributing to the greater global circulation pattern.”

This study characterises eddy-driven variability inshore of the Agulhas Current and reports "increased variability in regions south of 29.8°S, with Natal Pulses showing an increase in size and surface lifespan." Such mesoscale features influence sea-surface temperature patterns and coastal ocean conditions along KwaZulu-Natal and the southeast coast, potentially modulating local air–sea heat and moisture exchanges that affect coastal weather and climate.

The southward return flow is the Agulhas Current, **whose transport at Lats 31–32°S is estimated as 85 × 10^6 m3 s−1**.[9] This strong southward transport at ~31–32°S corresponds to the latitude band off the KwaZulu-Natal coast, confirming a vigorous poleward flow of warm water adjacent to the region.[9] Such large volume transport of warm water at these latitudes implies substantial oceanic heat availability to the atmosphere overlying the current and adjacent coastal areas.[9]

Climate and geography texts describe that the KwaZulu-Natal coast (around Durban at roughly 29°S) is warmer and more humid than many other regions at similar latitudes, due in part to the presence of the warm Agulhas Current offshore, which raises sea surface temperatures and influences the overlying air and coastal climate through latent and sensible heat fluxes.

The video’s description explains that "The Agulhas Current is a western boundary current that transports warm water southward in the Indian Ocean along the west coast of Africa" and presents a visualization of sea surface temperatures associated with the Agulhas Current near South Africa from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013, highlighting the warm SST signature of the current relative to adjacent waters.