Hope for rain from October to December
The temperature outlook for the entire 2024/25 rainy season is expected to be mostly above long-term averages across the SADC region.
Most of the Southern African Development Region (SADC), including large parts of Namibia, is likely to receive normal to above normal rainfall for the October to December rainfall period.This is according to a statement issued by the 29th Forum for Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook (SARCO-29), which took place from 26 to 28 August.
The forum says that from January to March next year, most of the region and most of Namibia are expected to experience normal to above-normal rainfall. However, the southwestern edges of South Africa, the southeastern and western parts of the DRC, northwestern Angola, Tanzania, northern Zambia, northern Malawi, northern Mozambique and the central-western tip of Madagascar are expected to experience normal to below-normal rainfall. It also includes the Comoros and Seychelles.
According to the forum, the temperature outlook for the entire 2024/25 rainy season is expected to be mostly above long-term averages across the SADC region.
Looking local
According to the latest dam bulletin issued by NamWater, the total average level of Namibia's dams stands at 52.6%, with the level for the central area of Namibia's dams at only 17.7%. In the East of the country the total average dam level is at 1.9%, while in the South it stands at 59.6%.
The Hardap Dam is a scant 8.9% full.
SARCOF-29 was held virtually from 26 to 28 August to provide a consensus outlook for the 2024/2025 rainfall season across the SADC region.
Climate experts from the SADC National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and the SADC Centre for Climate Services (CSC) collaborated to formulate the outlook. Input was also obtained from the African Center for Meteorological Application for Development and several global production centres, including the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Beijing Climate Centre, Météo-France, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), the British Meteorological Agency, the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Korean Meteorological Agency.
In addition, input from the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the National Center for Atmospheric Research was used to compile the outlook.