{"id":3031,"date":"2026-08-18T08:58:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T08:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2026-08-18T08:58:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T08:58:48","slug":"rwanda-east-africa-face-above-normal-rainfall-in-final-months-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/18\/rwanda-east-africa-face-above-normal-rainfall-in-final-months-of-2026\/politics\/regional\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda, East Africa face above-normal rainfall in final months of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"574\" height=\"336\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-2-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3032\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7083963171636662;width:777px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-2-2.jpg 574w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-2-2-300x176.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rwanda and other East African countries face a high likelihood of above-normal rainfall in the final months of 2026, raising the risk of flooding and other weather-related disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The forecast was presented Monday during a regional climate outlook forum in Kigali, where meteorological experts are assessing weather patterns to guide planning across East Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Nicholas Savage, an expert with the United Kingdom\u2019s Met Office, said there is up to a 90% chance of above-normal rainfall in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Uganda in October, November and December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some areas could receive between 300 and 400 millimeters of rain or more, while rainfall could continue for 10 to 15 consecutive days, Savage said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outlook comes as 2026 is also expected to rank among the hottest years on record. Savage said the year could finish among the four hottest ever recorded and has a strong chance of ranking among the top two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He linked the outlook to rising global temperatures and El Ni\u00f1o, a climate pattern associated with warmer-than-normal Pacific Ocean waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gahigi Aimable, director general of the Rwanda Meteorology Agency, said El Ni\u00f1o generally brings increased rainfall to the region, although its effects vary in different parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fidele Bingwa, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, said Rwanda would use the forecast to strengthen early preparedness, particularly in areas vulnerable to heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe must move beyond simply forecasting the weather and prepare for the impacts it may bring,\u201d Bingwa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He called for stronger regional cooperation in sharing climate information and improving early warning systems to protect lives, agriculture and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two-day forum is held as part of regional efforts to provide seasonal climate information that countries can use in planning and disaster preparedness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda and other East African countries face a high likelihood of above-normal rainfall in the final months of 2026, raising the risk of flooding and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,35,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-regional","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3033,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions\/3033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}