This forecast was issued at the Climate Experts Meeting held in Harare in the first week of September, which was hosted by the SADC Drought Monitoring Centre, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organisation.

For the main rainy season between January and March next year, the experts predicted that the whole of Namibia would receive normal to above-normal rainfall.

The Climatic Experts Meeting reached consensus on a regional forecast that was presented at the Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum held in Harare from September 7 to 8.

At the two gatherings, the current state of global ocean atmospheric systems and their implications on the region were also reviewed.

Sea surface temperatures in the Pacific, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were taken into account as major factors in regulating rainfall over Southern Africa.

In particular, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, where temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific are known to have adverse effects on rainfall over Southern Africa, was examined at length.

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