Last rains before winter

SIGNS of winter are already evident by the cooler morning and evening temperatures, as minimum temperatures average about 14 degrees in the central and southern parts of the country and 19 degrees in the North.

The minimum temperature forecast for today at Aus in the South is a cool 7 degrees.The Namibia Meteorological Service has confirmed, however, that rains continue to fall in the northern parts of the country, while scattered thundershowers can be expected in the north-eastern and central parts of Namibia for the next week.The tropical moisture moving in from Angola during the past week will continue to circulate across the north-eastern and central parts of Namibia for the next week, bringing the last rains before winter sets in.Professor Kobus Botha, who runs the southern African online weather site http://www.weatherphotos.co.za/index.html, confirmed yesterday that the far northern parts of Namibia experienced heavy thundershowers this weekend, and this weather is set to continue for another week. The tropical system is moving in from the northern and north-western parts of Namibia at the moment, and is moving across Outjo and Otjiwarongo in a south-easterly direction, which could result in scattered thundershowers across the central and eastern parts of Namibia.A meteorologist from the local weather bureau confirmed yesterday that ‘for the central and north-eastern parts we can expect thunderstorm activities over the next five days’.He said it was impossible to pinpoint which areas would receive the most rain, adding that ‘some places might still get a lot of rain, up to 30 mm, and some will just experience a few drops here and there. It all depends on how the tropical system will behave.’He said the southern parts of the country should continue to experience sunny and clear weather, and Namibians can prepare for winter setting in soon.Professor Botha agrees that temperatures will drop quickly now as autumn moves into winter. Windhoek’s meteorological office confirmed that minimum temperatures are already dropping to between 20 and 10 degrees in parts of the country.Tonight, Windhoekers can expect a low of 14 degrees, while in the South, the minimum temperature is a little lower, but still above 10 degrees.Areas north of Otjiwarongo will experience the highest minimum temperatures of around 19 to 20 degrees, while the central, southern and coastal parts of the country will average a minimum of about 14 degrees.