Rain in South Africa Expected to Improve in Autumn
Rain in the eastern part of South Africa has been above average in the past two months, but the west of the country is still getting below average rainfall, according to a climate change and disaster management report posted on the AgriSA website on Wednesday, 21 December.
The committee said that above normal rain and temperatures were likely until autumn but it was becoming less likely that the next few months would be particularly wet as the La Nina (associated with heavy rainfall) was weakening. Although rain in most of the Eastern Cape was normal, the condition of livestock was only reasonable to poor, and in the Sarah Baartman area livestock were in very poor condition. Although rain in the Free State was normal to above normal, dam levels continued to decline and were now at 50% from last year's 59%. Livestock were still dying as a result of the drought in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. In Gauteng, rainfall was above normal and the major dams were on average 82% full, from 81% a year ago. Flash flooding had caused infrastructural damage. In the Western Cape, below normal rainfall in most areas resulted in lower crop yields and smaller fruit. Major dams were on average 49% full, from 57%.
Sci-scraper