Light rains may be coming to Nairobi and neighbouring counties, offering a welcome break from the persistent dust pollution.
The weatherman predicts light showers scattered across the country this week.
They are more likely in Western, through the central Rift Valley to counties in Central Kenya.
Counties at the border of Somalia and the entire Coast may also benefit from the rains.
“Most parts of the country are likely to be generally sunny and dry. However, some parts of the highlands east and west of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria basin, Rift Valley and Coast are expected to receive rainfall,” deputy Met director Charles Mugah said in a statement.
The forecast covers five days until September 23.
Mugah said while daytime temperatures will remain high in these places, nights will be chilly, with temperatures down to as low as 10 degrees.
In Nairobi and the Central counties of Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, Meru and Tharaka-Nithi, intermittent cloudiness is expected in the morning, giving way to sunny intervals for the rest of the day.
“However, afternoon and night showers are likely to occur over few places,” Mugah said.
Counties around Lake Victoria and those in the Rift Valley highlands will have sunny intervals in the morning but a few areas may receive light rains.
“Afternoon showers and thunderstorms are likely to occur over few places, occasionally spreading to several places. Nights are expected to be partly cloudy though light showers may occur over few places,” he said.
These are Kisii, Nyamira, Nandi, Kericho, Bomet, Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma, Siaya, Kisumu, Homabay, Busia, Migori, Narok, Baringo, Nakuru, Trans-Nzoia, Uasin-Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties.
In the entire Coast, sunny intervals are expected while nights are likely to be partly cloudy. However, morning and afternoon showers are expected to occur over few places.
Mugah said Ukambani, Kajiado, Taita Taveta, Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Isiolo counties will be sunny and cloudy at night.
In the last one week, Mandera meteorological station recorded the highest daily temperature at 38.9°C on September 9, while Nyahururu station recorded the lowest daily minimum temperature at 4.6°C on September 14.
The forecast comes as the United Nations reported that more than 14.3 million Kenyans experienced at least 60 days with high temperatures due to climate change.
A report by Climate Central showed that burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, and human activities increased temperatures every day in June, July and August.
Climate Central is a non-advocacy, non-profit science and news organisation providing information about climate and energy.
The new analysis used the Climate Shift Index, a metric that quantifies the influence of climate change on global temperatures.
The report shows that Nairobi and Mombasa were strongly impacted by climate change-driven temperatures.
The two cities faced 83 and 59 days at Climate Shift Index 5 or higher.
This means that climate change made temperatures at least five times more likely on those days.
To estimate the risks of heat to human health, researchers looked at days in which temperatures were much hotter than the historical record — the “risky heat” days.
Risky heat days are hotter than 90 per cent of temperatures observed in a local area over the 1991-2020 period.
Heat-related health risks rise when temperatures climb above this local threshold.
The analysis also details exposure to climate change-influenced heat at the city level, with detailed information for more than 1,250 cities.
Between June and August, two billion people globally were exposed to more than 30 days of health-threatening temperatures strongly influenced by climate change.
One in four people experienced climate change-driven temperatures every day in the same period.
Additionally, 72 countries experienced their hottest summer since 1970, significantly driven by climate change.
Some 180 cities in the Northern Hemisphere experienced at least one extreme heatwave from June to August.
These heatwaves are, on average, 21 times more likely today because of carbon pollution, mainly caused by burning coal, oil and gas.
“High temperatures that were influenced by climate change jeopardised the health of billions around the world during the past three months,” said Andrew Pershing, vice president for science at Climate Central.
