Nairobi has barely seen sunshine this year, and if there has been, it’s been amidst moody weather patterns that have seen residents experience all four seasons in one day.
It now looks like it will be a rainy Christmas for some towns around the country as the The Kenya Meteorological Department today announced that some parts of the country will experience near-average rainfall within the same period.
According to the weather man, Nairobi, Kiambu, Kakamega and Mombasa counties will receive heavy rains during this festive season.
In a statement signed by Director Stella Aura, the department said Kericho, Nandi, Kakamega, Eldoret, Kitale, Nakuru, Narok and Kajiado are among the areas that will experience heavy rains.
Other areas include Nyeri, Murang’a, Nyandarua, Kiambu, Embu, Meru, Nanyuki, Machakos, Makindu, Voi, Taita Taveta, Mombasa, Kwale, Mtwapa, Kilifi, Malindi and Lamu are also in the same category.
Aura said that counties like Lowdar, Lokichoggio, Lokitaung, Kisii and Kisumu would receive depressed rainfall.
The Kenya Met. Department Director said that the rain in most parts of Nyanza, Western, North Rift counties and Central highlands including Nairobi are expected to cease during the third to fourth week of December. However, Narok county is likely to experience rainfall up to the end of December and into early January.
She said water levels in the Seven Forks and Turkwel hydroelectric power generating dams are likely to be maintained.
“This climate outlook is based on the prevailing and expected Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies over Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,” reads the statement.
Aura also explained that the current El Nino-like conditions in the Pacific Ocean and the near-neutral Indian Ocean Dipole have also been considered.