In his latest newsletter on climate and agricultural conditions, Johan van den Berg of Santam Agriculture says very dry conditions are currently dominating most of the country.

Another hydrological year (October – September) has passed, marking the fifth straight year of below-average rainfall.

Recent rains in some parts of the country have renewed hope of a normal season after weeks of heat, dryness and decreasing dam levels.

Favourable summer rainfall conditions are mostly expected to remain in place during the next few days.

After weeks of dryness which caused delays in crop planting, most regions of South Africa have finally received a reprieve as rains continue over summer rainfall areas of the country.

Widespread rain has been falling for two days over the central and northern parts of South Africa, bringing relief after several heatwaves that saw temperatures edge past 40°C and warm winds “like an industrial hair dryer”, according to a Limpopo citrus grower.

Following a week of widespread rain and persistent cloudy conditions over much of the summer rainfall region, the next few days will bring a situation more typical of normal summer conditions with isolated to scattered thundershowers and abundant sunshine.

 THE rains that fell in the past few weeks, albeit destructive in some cases, have lifted the doom around the agricultural sector across several countries in the Southern African region.

The next few days will be warm and relatively dry over most parts. Isolated thundershowers are possible over the central interior and Highveld on most days, but the high temperatures and the isolated nature of rainfall events will result in some drying during the period.

Widespread rain is expected over the summer rainfall region during the next few days. The area of expected above-normal rainfall for this time of the year should include the entire maize-production region.

Many parts of Kenya have been experiencing torrential rainfall for a couple of months now. This has resulted in floods and landslides.

More widespread rain and thundershowers are expected over the summer rainfall region during the next few days.

This morning’s blog post is co-authored with fellow agricultural economist, Tinashe Kapuya

Most of South Africa’s seasonal rainfall occurs during the warmer summer months, from October to March.

Most of South Africa's seasonal rainfall occurs during the warmer summer months, from October to March.

Winter rainfall areas received a considerable amount of rain.

Namibia is a semi-arid to arid country, despite these conditions, the sustainable production of crops, fruits and vegetables remains key to sustain the food requirements of the nation.

As a result of the recent and almost constant rain in many regions of the state, one can see the evidence of too much soil moisture. In some fields there is standing water.

The Agricultural Research Council’s (ARC) Agro-Climate Network, comprising over 500 automatic weather stations situated across the country, enables agrometeorology researchers to monitor and study the effects of weather events on South Africa’s agricultural activities.

Johan van den Berg Independent Agricultural Meteorologist (M.Sc Agric, Agricultural Meteorology, UFS)