• These include a few areas in western Kenya, especially those around the Lake Victoria basin
• The rains and the expected elevated temperatures are a result of the El Niño conditions expected until April.
Image: HANDOUT
The weatherman has identified more than 30 counties expected to receive rain this month.
Dr Bernard Chanzu, the deputy director of Kenya Meteorological Department, said the occasional rainfall with some breaks will come early in the month.
“The rains expected at the beginning of January in the southern half of the country will sustain water availability,” he said in a seasonal forecast.
These include a few areas in western Kenya, especially those around the Lake Victoria basin (Siaya, Busia, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Vihiga, Kakamega and Nandi), southern Rift Valley (Bomet, Kericho, Narok), and the south-eastern lowlands (Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Machakos and Taita Taveta).
The others are highlands east of the Rift Valley (Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Kiambu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu) and the coastal region (Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu and the Southern parts of Tana River).
“Most parts of the Northern sector are expected to remain generally dry though a few areas may experience occasional rainfall during the last week of the month,” Chanzu said in a forecast for January.
“A few areas over Southern Garissa are likely to start receiving occasional rainfall from the third week of the month.”
The rains and the expected elevated temperatures are a result of the El Niño conditions expected until April.
El Niño is known to raise planetary temperatures by as much as a few tenths of a degree Celsius. That is because it is associated with warmer-than-average surface temperatures across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, and those waters release heat and steam into the atmosphere.
Last week the regional weather agency, Igad Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, also predicted unusually higher temperatures this month.
ICPAC said the country will be generally dry, although a few places will receive rains.
“Temperature is expected to be warmer than usual in most parts of the region,” ICPAC said in a statement on Monday.
January is normally a dry month in Kenya.
The ICPAC forecast also showed although hotter weather is expected, a few areas could still receive some rains due to the ongoing El Niño.
The agency shared a three-month seasonal forecast covering January to March 2024.
The forecast covers the eight countries that make up Igad, plus Rwanda and Burundi.
“Wetter than usual conditions expected over southern and equatorial parts of the region including most parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, southern Uganda as well as parts of south-western and northeastern Ethiopia,” ICPAC said.
“Normal to dry than normal conditions expected over a few areas in central Kenya, and northern and western Tanzania. The rest of the region is generally dry during this season.”
The seasonal temperature forecast for January to March shows warmer than usual conditions over most parts of the region.
Such conditions are favourable for crops that are already maturing in the farms.
Farmers who planted maize in the short rains season will harvest in January and February.
Farmers are also fighting the armyworms that attack maize and other crops.
Researchers last month introduced a cost-efficient, sustainable alternative technology to manage the worm.
Approximately 582 farmers in Machakos were trained to produce baculorvirus-based insecticides to manage the worm.
The training was conducted by researchers from the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International regional centre for Africa, during a farmer’s field event in Machakos county.
The team also conducted assessments to gauge the farmers’ proficiency in fall armyworm management through biopesticides.