January rains set to continue

NAMIBIANS can expect the rainy weather to continue for the rest of the month, according to Professor Kobus Botha, an amateur weather enthusiast who keeps a close eye on weather satellite images from across southern Africa.

He said he has good news for Namibians, as satellite images indicate that the tropical weather moving in from Angola is set to continue bringing ‘very good rains’ to many parts of the country for the rest of January.Botha said he witnessed one of the biggest thundershowers he had ever seen in Namibia last Monday, as he watched satellite images of rainstorms in southern Namibia, slightly west of Mariental.More than 70 mm fell at the farm Sandhof Sunday night, north of Maltahöhe, leading to expectations that the spectacular Crinum paludosum lilies in the Sandhof Lily Pan will bloom in the coming days. The professor responded to questions regarding reports in early January that the rains would not continue past the middle of the month.He agreed that initial data had indicated a decrease in rainfall, but added that weather was often unpredictable and at the mercy of several fluctuating factors. In this case, he said that the continued good rains across Namibia were possibly due to the El Niño phenomenon weakening.Keetmanshoop recorded 17,5 mm on Tuesday, while the Noordhoek suburb in Keetmanshoop received 25,4 mm of rain on Tuesday. On Monday, Windhoek measured pockets of rain ranging from 38 mm in Academia to 26,8 mm in Katutura and 53 mm in Suiderhof. Grootfontein recorded 37,8 mm on Monday afternoon, and Nkurenkuru in the Kavango Region measured 40,5 mm plus 12 mm on Tuesday. Rundu measured 14 mm Monday and Katima Mulilo 10,1 mm on Tuesday. Otjinene received 25 mm of rainfall on Tuesday. Nampa reported that the light showers in Rundu brought relief to several small-scale crop farmers on the outskirts of Rundu. Lukas Kalenga, a mahangu farmer at the Ncaute village outside Rundu, informed Nampa that he almost stopped ploughing his field after observing that no rain was forthcoming, but the rainfall on Tuesday gave him reason to continue working on his mahangu field.Otjiwarongo received 31 mm on Tuesday.Gobabis received 11,2 mm of rain and Buitepos recorded 13,7 mm.Although the intensity of rain differs across the country, daily rainfall measurements indicate that many parts of the country continue to experience daily rainfall. This trend is set to continue for at least another few weeks, according to Botha.

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