02 Sep 2016

A normal rainfall season is expected in 2016/17 compared to the past season. Speaking at the seasonal rainfall outlook event in Gaborone on Wednesday, director in the department of meteorological services, Mr Thabang Botshoma said during the months of October, November and December, most parts of the country would receive normal to above normal rains.

He said the south western region was the only area expected to receive normal to below normal rain during this period. Mr Botshoma further noted that seasons had changed due to climate change as rain started mid or late November unlike in the past where it rained in early October.

He noted that by November, December and January 2017, the eastern parts of the country, Kgatleng, Kweneng, North East and Central would have received normal rainfall with Ngamiland, Chobe, Ghanzi and Kgalagadi districts receiving normal to above normal.

The director said during December, January and February, the rest of the country was predicted to receive normal rains with the whole country expected to receive normal to above normal in January, February and March.

However, he said the North East and Central districts were the only areas expected to receive normal with a likelihood of below normal rains, adding that this did not mean there would not be rain, but rather it would still rain minimal.

Mr Botshoma stated that Botswana recorded a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius this year in many stations across the country, adding that if the climate change conditions prevailed in the coming years, temperatures would rise to 50 and above 50 degrees Celsius.

He stated that this harsh conditions had brought a lot of problems with seasons having to shift as Botswana experienced mild winter that became very cold end of July, hence pushing rainfall to start late in November.

The director stated that the only way to survive climate change was to reduce greenhouse emissions. He said these extreme weather conditions occurred because of climate change, citing an example with the occurrence of floods in March during a drought year.

He highlighted that the heavy rains in January, February and March 2016 gave a feeling that it was a rainy year, however noting that the rains were not good for agricultural purposes.

Nevertheless, he said climate change had affected some areas positively giving an example with Kgalagadi and Ghanzi, which he said had shown a rise in rainfall amounts over the past years.

The director noted that their weather forecast network did not yet cover some areas with huge gaps between some villages, hence resulting in rainfall occurring in areas not captured.

Mr John Stegling of the Department of Meteorology concurred that the hot temperatures experienced in 2016 were the main contributing factors to evaporation due to El Nino conditions.

He highlighted that floods should not be ruled out this coming rain season due to the fact that some areas were expecting above normal rainfall.

However, he said people should not be worried about the dry spell that would occur in some parts of the country around January and February as these were needed in farming as long as they were not prolonged.

Mr Stegling noted that the South East region experienced the worst drought in 35 years this year. ENDS