- Widespread, favorable rains observed over Southern Africa during the past week.
- Below-average rainfall persists in central Ethiopia.
1) Since late December, an unseasonable distribution of monsoonal rainfall has resulted in anomalous dryness across a broad portion of southern Africa. Low seasonal precipitation totals and untimely dry spells has negatively affected ground conditions and is likely to lead crop reductions for several local areas in southern Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and South Africa.
2) Below-average rainfall over the past several weeks has increased rainfall deficits, which have already impacted crop conditions across the bimodal region of northern Tanzania. An increase in precipitation is expected across Tanzania and neighboring countries during the next week.
3) Extended dry spells since January have led to large rainfall deficits in northeastern Namibia. The continued below-average rain has degraded vegetation conditions further. With the rainy season approaching to an end, recovery is unlikely.
4) Despite an increase in rainfall during the last week, below-average moisture conditions remain across several local areas of southwestern and east-central Ethiopia. Moderate to heavy rains are forecast in southern and western Ethiopia, while suppressed rains are expected in the central portions of the country during the next week.