Rains aplenty to continue

A VERY wet January over large parts of Namibia is expected to be followed by continued higher than normal rainfall until the end of this rainy season, weather experts are saying.

‘There is still a lot of rain on the way,’ weather forecaster Riaan van Zyl of the Meteorological Service of Namibia told The Namibian on Friday.He said most parts of the country are expected to receive above average quantities of rain for the remainder of Namibia’s rainy season up to May.This month, the western and south-western parts of Namibia can expect to receive as much as 80 to 90 per cent more rain than the usual quantities recorded during February, while the north-eastern half of Namibia can expect to receive 40 to 50 per cent more than usual during February, Van Zyl said.During March, rainfall patterns over the north-eastern parts of the country are expected to return to normal, while over the far western areas, the south and the south-western parts of Namibia rainfall totals over March are forecast to be 50 to 60 per cent more than the normal average for that month, Van Zyl said.The forecast for April is that the south and south-east of Namibia will receive up to 60 per cent more rain than in a normal year, while the rainfall pattern over the rest of the country should be normal that month, Van Zyl added.Professor Kobus Botha, who runs the popular website weatherphotos.co.za, also said on Friday that Namibians can expect more, and heavy, rains over the next two weeks.’There is a mass of clouds which will move southwards from Angola into Namibia. During the next week, most of Namibia will experience good rains, and heavy rains in some places,’ he said.Botha explained that a high pressure system over Botswana, and the incoming tropical weather system from Angola, are the deciding factors in the next two weeks.’The high pressure system over Botswana is pushing all the weather over to Namibia,’ he said.There will be no let-up of wet weather for at least another two to three weeks, Botha said.In two weeks, while rains in the south will probably decrease again, the northern and central parts of Namibia, can expect ‘big rains’ he said.The record rains this year are due to a combination of three things, Botha said.He explained that the La Niña weather system, which is very strong, this year combined with a high-pressure system that came in from the south-east of South Africa, bringing with it exceptionally warm, moist air.A third element which has played a role in the high rainfall over the past month is a tropical weather system which has been persistently spreading over the southern parts of Africa.’These systems all came in at the same time,’ he said.La Niña is a cooling of the surface water in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and is an event that also has an effect on rainfall patterns in southern Africa. It is the opposite of the El Niño phenomenon, which is associated with drier than normal rainy seasons in most of southern Africa.During a La Niña period, wetter than normal weather is expected in southern Africa from December to February.Over the next three to four days there will be a light decrease in rainfall activity over most of Namibia, weather forecaster Elias Aiyambo said yesterday. Towards the next weekend, though, the chances of rain are likely to pick up again over most of the country, except for the eastern parts of Namibia, he said.Widespread rains were again reported over Namibia this past weekend.At the Windhoek Met Office, 30,3 millimetres of rain was measured during Saturday and up to yesterday morning, while over the same period 30,2 mm was recorded at Rehoboth, 10,6 mm at Mariental, 16,5 mm at Maltahöhe, 10,2 mm at Aranos, 8,4 mm at Keetmanshoop, 3,7 mm at Karasburg, 12,9 mm at Okakarara, 4,8 mm at Grootfontein, 9,4 mm at Khorixas, 2 mm at Opuwo, 5,6 mm at Okaukuejo, 9,5 mm at Outapi, 8,6 mm at Okahao, 8,3 mm at Oshakati and 6 mm at Oshikango.

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