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As an important bottom‐up driver of ecosystem processes, rainfall is intrinsically linked to the dynamics of vegetation and species distributions through its effects on soil moisture content and surface water availability. Rainfall effects are thus spatially and temporally specific to different environmental role‐players. Knowledge of its spatio‐temporal pattern is therefore essential to understanding natural ecosystem flux and potential climate change effects. Climate change poses a serious threat to protected areas in particular, as they are often isolated in fragmented landscapes and confined within hard park boundaries. In consequence, a species' natural movement response to resulting climate‐induced niche shifts is often obstructed. Long‐term, accurate and consistent climate monitoring data are therefore important resources for managers in large protected areas like the Kruger National Park (Kruger). In this article …