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Current cold to bite a little longer, says weatherman


The current cold weather will persist until December, the weatherman said on Monday.

A forecast by the Kenya Meteorological Department indicates that most parts of the country will experience less rainfall, which will be poorly distributed, both in space and time.

“The expected depressed rainfall will be mainly driven by the evolving La Niña conditions in the Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean,” said the department’s acting director, Mr Peter Ambenje.

He said the current weak La Niña condition would  strengthen with time to peak towards the end of the year and persist to the beginning of next year.

Mr Ambenje projected that the irregular pattern would have a devastating effect on some sectors, while favouring others.

“It will highly interfere with agricultural activities in most areas. Farmers are, therefore, advised to liaise with the Ministry of Agriculture through extension officers to make use of the rains to plant appropriate crops,” he said.

POOR RAINFALL

He said pastoral areas of northeastern, northwestern and southeastern Kenya were expected to deteriorate as a result of expected poor rainfall.

“The anticipated depressed rainfall is also likely to result in land degradation through wilting of grass and exposure of the top soil to erosion,” he said.

He also warned that the phenomenon would most likely lead to water shortages in urban areas and urged residents in towns to manage water well.

Lack of sufficient water and poor sanitation, he said, were likely to lead to outbreaks of diseases like cholera and typhoid.

The phenomenon, said Mr Ambenje, would see parts of central, the whole of eastern and northern parts of Kenya, Nairobi and coastal region experiencing late rain onset, mostly in October, characterised by below-normal rainfall.

But counties in Western, Nyanza and parts of the Rift Valley would receive normal or above normal rainfall into early next year, the department said.