Extreme heat, cold frustrate 2023

ZIMBABWE has experienced starkly “unusual” weather patterns this year, characterised by both extreme cold and scorching heat that deviate significantly from typical climate norms, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has said.

This erratic weather has raised concerns about its potential impact on public health, agriculture and water resources.

According to the MSD, extremely hot days were recorded in most parts of the country in November, during which significantly dry conditions were also reported compared to previous seasons.

Abnormal and unexpected cold snaps characterised by unseasonably low temperatures were also recorded between July and September.

Data from the MSD gleaned by The Sunday Mail shows that most parts of the country were abnormally hot last month when compared to temperatures recorded during the same month between 2019 and 2022.

Places that recorded extremely high daily temperatures during that month include Kanyemba (44 degrees Celsius), Kariba and Binga (43 degrees Celsius), Chiredzi and Chisumbanje (42 degrees Celsius), and Lupane and Gwanda (41 degrees Celsius).

Responding to questions from this publication, MSD head of forecast Mr James Ngoma said some parts of the country recorded high temperatures, which he, however, said were not record-breaking.

“The year 2023 has had its uniqueness . . . you would remember that June was not as cold as usually anticipated,” he said.

“Notably, July and August were cooler than usual, even the early weeks of September.

“Similar below-average temperatures were experienced in January through to March when we had cloudy and wet conditions over much of the country.

“October had a few cloudy days and thunderous rains, even in Harare. November, on the other hand, as forecast by the MSD, had less rainfall than normal, especially over much of the north-eastern parts of Zimbabwe.

This had seen most days being sunny and hot. He said averaging out these months brought 2023 into near-normal attributes, with month-to-month outliers.

Mr Ngoma said despite 2023 being named the hottest year in history for some European countries, other parts of the world had recorded starkly different weather patterns.

“While this is a global average that is being spoken of, different parts of the globe have had different effects, with some areas in Europe having an early onset of winter,” he said.

“Coming closer home, different areas have had different effects during this summer period. To the south, in provinces such as Masvingo, southern parts of Manicaland and Matabeleland South, there has been an interlude of windy and cloudy episodes, coupled with periods of sunny and hot conditions.”

Areas such as Matabeleland North and South, and Bulawayo Metropolitan have experienced brief cloudy periods, coupled with light showers.

“In the Mashonaland provinces, it has been less cloudy than average years,” he continued.

“This decrease in cloud cover has resulted in sunnier and hot days, however, the temperatures achieved thus far have not been record-breaking.

“Rainfall has been apparent over odd areas in the west (Matabeleland North and South), as well as in the south (Masvingo and southern parts of Manicaland), thus the rains are very area-specific.”

According to the Climate Prediction Centre’s Africa Hazards Outlook report, dry and hot weather conditions are expected to envelope some parts of Southern Africa from December 7 to 13.

“An abnormal heat hazard is placed across parts of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar, where maximum temperature is expected to range between 35-40 degrees Celsius and 2-8 degrees Celsius above average,” reads the report.

“Due to a delayed start to the rainfall season, abnormal dryness is placed over portions of Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar, where rainfall deficits have exceeded 50mm over the past 30 days.”

Zimbabwe, like most countries across the globe, is experiencing the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon that has fuelled extremely high temperatures.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change service last week said 2023 has been the hottest year on record. It attributed this to record-breaking temperatures that pushed the global average temperature to above 1,46 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels.