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Climate change is projected to diminish the rainfall and lead to more frequent droughts in the cold arid desert of the west coast of South Africa. Long-term area-wide precipitation trend analysis indicates all-year reductions, but particularly in autumn (March –May), driven by the poleward contraction of mid-latitude storm tracks. The region has historically reliable winter precipitation and generally very dry summers. This study analysed the 60-year rainfall and 56-year ungrazed perennial plant cover recorded at Nortier Research Farm in the West Strandveld bioregion to identify possible climatic shifts, and the relationships between rainfall, Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and perennial cover. The hypotheses were that rainfall in a certain period preceding the plant survey is a strong predictor of perennial cover, and that climate change is already driving changes in cover. No significant rainfall trends were found but there was a shift towards wetter summers in the last 30 years. The Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) indicated moderately to extremely dry years in 1966 –1973. Apart from 1978 and 2017, no other drought periods (SPI ï‚£-1.0) were identified. Around eight years were moderately to very wet (SPI  1.0) and occurred randomly. The study found a strong positive correlation (r2 = 0.524) between the rainfall of the previous 18 months and the perennial plant cover, supporting the hypothesis that preceding rainfall is a strong predictor of perennial cover. However, no discernible changes driven by climate change were found. Rangeland managers should take the rainfall of the previous 18 months into consideration when making grazing decisions. Weather monitoring is continuing to track possible long-term climate changes. This research contributes to understanding the impact of climate change on arid regions.