Thunder heralds rainy season

THE rainy weather that brought some powerful thundershowers to parts of central and eastern Namibia over the weekend is expected to move eastwards this week before shifting back to the central and north-eastern areas of the country over the coming weekend, the Meteorological Service of Namibia is forecasting.

Some of the first substantial rains of the 2007-08 rainy season were recorded over the Windhoek and Gobabis areas over the past weekend, and also over parts of northern Namibia on Sunday, the Meteorological Service reported yesterday. The highest single rainfall figure reported over the weekend was 13,5 millimetres, which was measured in Katutura on Sunday morning.Another 0,4 mm of rain was recorded in Katutura on Sunday.At the Windhoek Met Office 2,7 mm was measured on Sunday morning, while a further 1,3 mm fell there over the next day.At Hosea Kutako International Airport east of Windhoek 6,2 mm of rain fell over Saturday, followed by 5,8 mm on Sunday, while at Gobabis 0,2 mm of rain was poured out of rain gauges on Sunday morning and another 0,8 mm was recorded by yesterday morning.At Suiderhof in Windhoek, 4,5 mm was measured over Saturday, followed by 3 mm over Sunday.Rain also fell in northern Namibia and in the South on Sunday.At Aroab in the south 3,2 mm was recorded on Sunday, while from Ondangwa 0,6 mm was reported, from Grootfontein 0,5 mm, from Eenhana 0,2 mm and from Okongo 0,1 mm.Weatherman Riaan van Zyl said yesterday that the weather system that had caused these downpours was moving to the east for the rest of the week.By tomorrow, rain can be expected over the north-eastern parts of the country, and by Friday the rain system should start moving west again, Van Zyl said.Over the weekend, rain can be expected over the eastern border areas of the country and as far south as the Kalahari, and by Sunday, rain can be expected over the central parts of the country again, with thundershowers resulting in rainfall measuring between 10 and 20 mm possible, he said.While there is moisture in the higher layers of air between 10 000 and 20 000 feet, the lower layers are still dry, though, impeding further cloud development at this stage, Van Zyl added.Still, the outlook for rain both in the short term and for the rest of the newly arrived rainy season appeared promising for now, he said: “The table is set for it.”The highest single rainfall figure reported over the weekend was 13,5 millimetres, which was measured in Katutura on Sunday morning.Another 0,4 mm of rain was recorded in Katutura on Sunday.At the Windhoek Met Office 2,7 mm was measured on Sunday morning, while a further 1,3 mm fell there over the next day.At Hosea Kutako International Airport east of Windhoek 6,2 mm of rain fell over Saturday, followed by 5,8 mm on Sunday, while at Gobabis 0,2 mm of rain was poured out of rain gauges on Sunday morning and another 0,8 mm was recorded by yesterday morning.At Suiderhof in Windhoek, 4,5 mm was measured over Saturday, followed by 3 mm over Sunday.Rain also fell in northern Namibia and in the South on Sunday.At Aroab in the south 3,2 mm was recorded on Sunday, while from Ondangwa 0,6 mm was reported, from Grootfontein 0,5 mm, from Eenhana 0,2 mm and from Okongo 0,1 mm.Weatherman Riaan van Zyl said yesterday that the weather system that had caused these downpours was moving to the east for the rest of the week.By tomorrow, rain can be expected over the north-eastern parts of the country, and by Friday the rain system should start moving west again, Van Zyl said.Over the weekend, rain can be expected over the eastern border areas of the country and as far south as the Kalahari, and by Sunday, rain can be expected over the central parts of the country again, with thundershowers resulting in rainfall measuring between 10 and 20 mm possible, he said.While there is moisture in the higher layers of air between 10 000 and 20 000 feet, the lower layers are still dry, though, impeding further cloud development at this stage, Van Zyl added.Still, the outlook for rain both in the short term and for the rest of the newly arrived rainy season appeared promising for now, he said: “The table is set for it.”