Namibia faces most severe drought in 30 years

 

Picture: LEAN TIMES ... Farmers from the Omaheke village in the Kunene Region are seen moving their lean cattle towards the Omakange village in Omusati to escape the drought. The central parts of Namibia have experienced the worst rainfall in 30 years.

The central areas of Namibia are experiencing the most severe drought in three decades, seasonal rainfall figures released by the Meteorological Service of Namibia show. 

The 166 millimetres of rain measured at the headquarters of the Meteorological Service in Windhoek during the past rainy season - from October last year to the end of April - is the lowest seasonal rainfall total recorded at that weather station since the 1981/82 rainy season.

At Rehoboth, too, the past rainy season has been the driest in 31 years, historical rainfall figures from the Met Service indicate.

Only the northeastern parts of Namibia have experienced a near normal rainy season. Over the rest of the country rainfall totals are all well below the normal seasonal figures for respective weather stations, with the Gobabeb research station in the Namib Desert and the Walvis Bay Airport the only exceptions to the trend.

The lowest seasonal rainfall total at the Windhoek Met office between the 1981/82 and the 2012/13 droughts seasons was a total of 185,3 mm recorded from October 1995 to April 1996.

The past rainy season's rainfall totals at weather stations in the south are also far below normal. At Keetmanshoop, the 62 mm recorded from October last year to the end of April is 59 percent lower 

than the total rainfall of 152,4 mm expected in a normal rainy season, while the 45 mm measured at Gibeon is 70 percent lower than its normal seasonal total of 147,6 mm..

Some places in the south have however bucked the trend. At Koës, the rainfall figures show, a total of 102 mm was received from October to April - 36 percent below the normal seasonal total of 159,4 mm.

Rains in late March resulted in above average rainfall totals being recorded at Gobabeb and Walvis Bay Airport, though. The seasonal total of 39,4 mm measured at Gobabeb is 88 percent higher than the normal figure of 21 mm recorded at that spot in the Namib Desert, while the 18,9 mm recorded at Walvis Bay Airport is 101 percent higher than the 9,4 mm expected there in a normal rainy season.

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