•The earlier forecasts showed that although Kenya is going through a drought, there will be instances of heavy rains, followed by dry weather.
•The rains have already claimed the lives of two people in Makueni this week.
Image: KIPLANG'AT KIRUI
The current heavy rains will reduce toward the weekend, the Meteorological Department says in a five-day forecast.
The rains are being experienced across the country except in Northeastern region, most of which is still dry.
Met said the latest forecast shows the intensity will reduce in many places at the weekend.
“Rainfall is expected to continue over several parts of the country including the highlands east of the Rift Valley, the southeastern lowlands, and the Coast. However, rainfall intensities are likely to reduce as the forecast period progresses,” Kenya Meteorological Department director Stella Aura said.
The rainfall pattern conforms to previous forecasts given by the department.
Earlier forecasts showed that although Kenya is going through a drought, there will be instances of heavy rains, followed by dry weather.
The rains have already claimed the lives of two people in Makueni this week.
In the first incident, a boda boda rider drowned while trying to cross a flooded Kaluku river in Kasikeu, Nzaui subcounty.
The person, identified as Michael Kyawa (49), was swept by the water when he was riding the motorbike from Kasikeu to Sultan Hamud.
His body and the motorbike are still missing.
“Efforts by the police and chiefs to retrieve the body and motorbike are ongoing,” Makueni county commissioner Maalim Mohamed said on Monday evening.
Police said they found a shirt that resembled what he was wearing when he was swept away.
In Mbooni East, a four-year -old girl was found dead on Monday evening after she was swept away by floodwaters in Wikwatyo village, Thwake sublocation.
“We appreciate area assistant chiefs and local divers for retrieving the body after a day,” Mohammed said.
In mid-November, Met deputy director Bernard Chanzu said the country may occasionally experience scattered storms, followed by long dry spells.
“We are now in a drought situation. And it is not just in Kenya but it’s affecting most of East Africa,” he told the Star.
“This condition will continue until the end of the year. You will have occasional storms which will disappear. It will not change much.”
He explained that the expected scattered storms are not conducive for farming and may not help farmers.
“So we won’t see consistent rains but only scattered storms. People will need to harvest water when these scattered storms come,” he said.
“On average the situation is not good for farming at all.”
Chanzu said January to March next year will be dry as usual. “This period is always dry except for some scattered rains and we don’t anticipate any change.”
In August, Kenya Meteorological Department director Stella Aura had warned that most global climate and weather forecasting models predicted that La Nina was likely to develop over the October-December season.
“The distribution of rainfall in time and space is expected to be generally poor over most areas, especially during the month of October and the peak month of November. In the month of December, rainfall reduction is expected over several places in the country as the season draws to an end,” Aura said while releasing the weather outlook on August 31.
Edited by A.N