21 Nov 2019

Places which have recently been reached by the onset rains; North East, South East, Eastern part of Southern districts and a small portion of Ngamiland are the only ones that are currently ready for the ploughing season.

Meteorologist, Ms Pearl Gosiame told BOPA in an interview that onset rains determine whether ploughing could commence, noting that is  usually starts in November/December yearly.
The interview aimed to get a review by the department of meteorological services on the state of the global climate systems and analysis of rainfall and temperature prospects for the rainfall season, which started in October 2019 and ends in March 2020.

According to the review, the first half of the season, October to December 2019, the North and the Western parts of Botswana are expected to receive normal to above normal rainfall.

The eastern parts are expected to receive normal to below normal whereas below normal is expected over the South East.

It says temperatures for this period are expected to be above normal, except over the North, where normal to below normal temperatures are anticipated.

The review further states that during the second half season, from January to March 2020, normal to above normal rains are expected country wide with the North and South West being particularly above average.

Temperatures will continue to be higher than normal over the West and East, but normal to below over the North and Central areas.

The review is intended for the benefit of policy making decisions in the climate sensitive sectors for socio-economic purposes, as well as to manage risk arising from climate variability and climate change.
Generally, the review states that a moderately wet season is expected, especially during the second half of the season.

Ms Gosiame said that temperatures will be normal to above over most areas, except over the North with El-Nino/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions expected to continue throughout the season.

Giving a short term rainfall update,  Assistant Meteorologist Chandiba Mokgosi said they were expecting a bit more rainfall in the South Eastern and Eastern parts for the rest of this week.

She said some other parts of the country will experience isolated thundershowers and heavy winds on some days.

Ms Mokgosi said though it rained in some parts of the country and continues to rain, the scotching sun later on evaporated all the water.

She explained that it will take heavy or consistent rainfall for the land, which has been dry for some time, to cool off. Ends