Poor rain prospects until weekend

FARMERS waiting for more rain after a promising start to the rainy season will have to remain patient for the rest of the week – weather conditions are only expected to improve towards the weekend.

Rains petered out by Thursday, except for Ondangwa, which received 24 millimetres on Saturday and 9 mm on Sunday, according to official figures from the weather bureau. Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Region received 9 mm over the weekend.The town had a good start to the new year when it received 71,1 mm of rain on January 1.”There is a 20 per cent rain chance for the north-eastern tip of the Caprivi Region over the next few days and possibly parts of the Kavango Region,” weather expert Victor Kaurimuje said from the Met Office at Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday.”For the remainder of the country it will be sunny and only few clouds due to a cold front from the southern sub-continent passing the country by Wednesday, bringing a high-pressure system, so it will remain mostly dry until the weekend,” Kaurimuje added.”Rain prospects look better by Friday over to Sunday over the northern parts of Namibia.”He was hopeful that good rains would still come.”We are still in the heart of the rainy season and we expect good showers to come still until the end of March.”The water storage dams in the country are relatively full, thanks to the previous rainy season, which was exceptional.According to the latest dam bulletin issued by NamWater yesterday, the dams supplying Windhoek have an average water level of 73,4 per cent, nearly double compared to the same time last year (2006: 39,9 per cent).The Swakoppoort Dam currently is 84 per cent full (2006: 36.1 per cent), the Von Bach Dam holds 63 per cent of its capacity (2006: 36,1 per cent), Goreangab is hundred per cent full, just like last year, and the Omatako Dam is 67,2 per cent (2006: 13,7 per cent) full.Dams near Gobabis are 41,2 per cent full with the Otjivero Dam being filled to 64,8 per cent (2006: 34,9 per cent) and the Tilda Viljoen Dam at Gobabis 53,1 percent full (2006: 56,5 per cent).The Daan Viljoen Dam at Gobabis is only 20 per cent full, however.A year ago it was only 13,2 per cent full.The Hardap Dam is 54,7 per cent full (2006: 52,9 per cent),while the Naute Dam outside Keetmanshoop is 77,7 per cent (2006: 82,5 per cent) full.The Oanob Dam west of Rehoboth is 81,7 per cent full compared to 44,7 per cent a year ago.The prevalence of a slight El Niño weather pattern since October 2006 might also influence this rainy season unfavourably, bring normal to below-normal rainfall until April.Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi Region received 9 mm over the weekend.The town had a good start to the new year when it received 71,1 mm of rain on January 1.”There is a 20 per cent rain chance for the north-eastern tip of the Caprivi Region over the next few days and possibly parts of the Kavango Region,” weather expert Victor Kaurimuje said from the Met Office at Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday.”For the remainder of the country it will be sunny and only few clouds due to a cold front from the southern sub-continent passing the country by Wednesday, bringing a high-pressure system, so it will remain mostly dry until the weekend,” Kaurimuje added.”Rain prospects look better by Friday over to Sunday over the northern parts of Namibia.”He was hopeful that good rains would still come.”We are still in the heart of the rainy season and we expect good showers to come still until the end of March.”The water storage dams in the country are relatively full, thanks to the previous rainy season, which was exceptional.According to the latest dam bulletin issued by NamWater yesterday, the dams supplying Windhoek have an average water level of 73,4 per cent, nearly double compared to the same time last year (2006: 39,9 per cent).The Swakoppoort Dam currently is 84 per cent full (2006: 36.1 per cent), the Von Bach Dam holds 63 per cent of its capacity (2006: 36,1 per cent), Goreangab is hundred per cent full, just like last year, and the Omatako Dam is 67,2 per cent (2006: 13,7 per cent) full.Dams near Gobabis are 41,2 per cent full with the Otjivero Dam being filled to 64,8 per cent (2006: 34,9 per cent) and the Tilda Viljoen Dam at Gobabis 53,1 percent full (2006: 56,5 per cent).The Daan Viljoen Dam at Gobabis is only 20 per cent full, however.A year ago it was only 13,2 per cent full.The Hardap Dam is 54,7 per cent full (2006: 52,9 per cent),while the Naute Dam outside Keetmanshoop is 77,7 per cent (2006: 82,5 per cent) full.The Oanob Dam west of Rehoboth is 81,7 per cent full compared to 44,7 per cent a year ago.The prevalence of a slight El Niño weather pattern since October 2006 might also influence this rainy season unfavourably, bring normal to below-normal rainfall until April.