By ‘Mamohaila Rampo
MASERU
The Ministry of Energy and Meteorology Lesotho has, through the Lesotho Meteorological Service (LMS), projected heavy rainfall for the year 2022/2023.
The new projections were revealed on Tuesday.
Minister of Energy and Meteorology Hon. Mohapi Mohapinyane warned the public that this summer, heavy winds and rainfalls are anticipated followed by thunderstorms, flash floods and snowfall.
This year La-Nina is expected to strike Lesotho, causing frequent rainfalls. La-Nina refers to the large-scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation, namely winds, pressure and rainfall.
Going into detail, Mohapinyane said the country is expected to receive normal to above normal rains for the period of October 2022 to March 2023.
For the month of December to February, the country will experience normal to above normal rainfall mixed with normal to below normal hot weather conditions.
In the highlands, it is anticipated that from January to October next year there will be normal to above normal rainfall. While the lowlands are expected to have normal to above normal rainfalls.
Last year, the Ministry had revealed that most places will record normal rains from October 2021 to March 2022. Nonetheless, disasters occurred that resulted in widespread damage throughout the country with the worst affected sectors being agriculture, roads, water and sanitation and health. This called for the declaration of a State of Emergency by the Prime Minister Dr. Moeketsi Majoro, which lasted for six months.
Mohapinyane said the harsh weather conditions continued into winter, from May to July when heavy rains were recorded as above normal, inclusive of snowfall. However normal hot weather conditions were recorded.
He advised Basotho to be precautious, saying these are the results of climate change. He said the ministry will continue to air out safety alerts when the weather changes for the worst.
