By JULIUS PHIRI –
THE Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD) has said the rainfall performance from October 1 to December, 31 last year has been  normal to above normal in most parts of the Country.
Meteorological Department acting director Edson Nkonde however said in a statement yesterday that despite being normal to above normal across the country, Lusaka, Muchinga, Southern and Western provinces have recorded below average rainfall.
Mr Nkonde said the dry and hot conditions that have been experienced over Lusaka, Southern, Western and southern parts of Central Province between January 1 to January, 9 this year was because of the tropical cyclone “Ava” that has swept across Madagascar.
He said this had been responsible for the relatively dry airflow from the South-East that had been affecting the country confining rainfall activities to the northern parts of Zambia.
“During this period the southern half of the country recorded less number of rainfall days compared to the same period last season. For example, Lusaka reported zero rain days as compared to the same period last season when it reported nine rain days,” he said.
He said the poor rainfall distribution had been due to the tropical cyclone “Ava”, which diverted moist airflow away from the country.
This was compounded by the high-pressure system over Botswana which suppressed cloud development resulting in clear skies and warm to hot temperatures in most parts of the country.
He said the outlook from 10 to 20 January, the tropical cyclone “Ava” would move further south-eastwards increasing the chance of rainfall activities over Zambia during the period.
Mr Nkonde said more rainfall activities were expected over the northern half of the country and relatively less over Lusaka, Southern and Western Provinces.
He advised farmers to take advantage of the increased showery activities to perform tasks such as fertiliser application and re-planting.
He said there was inadequate rain days that would be experienced from 10th to 20th January 2018, over Lusaka and Southern provinces including the southern parts of Central Province which may induce favorable conditions for bacteria and pest multiplication.
He advised people to maintain high levels of hygiene to reduce spread of diarrhoe diseases such as cholera.
“Farmers are advised to be on the lookout for army worm and other pests. The energy accumulation in the atmosphere due to the dry conditions may increase thundery activities and high chances of lightning,” he said.