The counties of Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Kakamega, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nyandarua, Nyeri and Murang’a are set to receive moderately heavy rainfall this week, the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority says in its weekly forecast.
The rains are expected at a time when farmers in the North Rift Valley and parts of Western Kenya are counting losses after the long rains season, which usually runs from March to May, began early in February and ended early, resulting in a dry spell.
Assistant Director in charge of Public Weather Services at the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA), Hannah Kimani, attributed the depressed rainfall affecting most of Western Kenya and the North Rift Valley to the evolving El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which began early in the year. The Assistant Director urged for effective use of weather forecasts provided by KMSA, saying that the Met Service had predicted an early onset of the long rains season, hence farmers ought to have utilized the rainfall in good time.
Principal Secretary for the State Department for Agriculture Dr. Kipronoh Ronoh Paul recently announced that the government had deployed scientists to assess widespread maize crop failures in the North Rift Valley caused by prolonged drought, erratic rainfall, and pest invasions.
Speaking during the national launch of the Integrated Natural Resources Management Programme (INReMP) at the University of Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County, the Principal said erratic weather patterns had severely affected maize production in the country’s key food-producing region.
The weekly forecast released by the Deputy Director of the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA), Kennedy Thiong’o, indicates that while most parts of the country are expected to be generally dry, intermittent cool and cloudy conditions are expected in parts of Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Laikipia, Meru, Murang’a, Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri and Tharaka-Nithi counties. Daytime or maximum average temperatures of more than 30°C are expected in much of Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, Garissa, Wajir, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu and Turkana counties.
Night-time average temperatures are expected to be less than 10°C in some parts of Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Nyeri, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Nakuru, Kajiado and Taita Taveta counties.
