Met predicts moderate rains for first half of November

Rwanda Meteorology Agency has predicted that the entire country will continue to experience moderate rains for atleast another week with ordinary sunny breaks.

The agency said that there are enhanced conditions of light to moderate rains over most parts of the country with the movement of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) forming over the equatorial region and causing most parts within the region to experience rains.

It is going to be all about rain in for the better part of the first half of November, officials at Meteo told The New Times in an interview on Wednesday, but they also observed that the weather will generally be calm.

“It’s hard to predict how much rain we will experience but moderate rains will be consistent. But we don’t expect incidents like floods or any serious  damages unless unexpected winds show up,” said Anthony Twahirwa, the head of the forecast department at Meteo Rwanda.

An outpouring of rain has been experienced across the country since last week, leaving many Rwandans predicting that the rainy season is finally here after some unpredicted periods of prolonged dry spell since September.


Two rainy seasons

“The current rain is actually good for crops because they will feel revived after the sun had somehow hit them and the soil has been generally dry,” Twahirwa said.

The country normally experiences two main rainy seasons in March-May for the long rains and September-December for the short rains.

The rainfall in Rwanda is influenced by the penetration of Congo Airmass into the country, the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ), local circulations and teleconnections from global Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs).

Some parts of the country during the rainy season are alerted for landslides or mudslides but Meteo Rwanda hasn’t yet issued such warnings.

The landslides and mudslides prone areas normally include western districts of Nyabihu and Ngororero, northern districts of Gakenke, Burera, Rulindo and Musanze, as well as southern districts of Nyamagabe ,Nyaruguru and Muhanga.

The Rwanda Meteorology Agency has also predicted that the remainder of the current rainfall season will be from November to January 2014 and that it will vary from normal to above normal rainfall over central to western, southern and northern parts of the country, and normal to below in the rest of the country.

Met predicts moderate rains for first half of November