Are weather forecasters lying to Kenyans ?

Kenya: Kenyans have for many years been loaded with inconsistencies when it comes to information regarding the weather. The meteorological department has subjected the public to depend on stone-age knowledge to determine the weather of the day.

Kenyans on numerous occasions have been victims of ambush and casualties due to insufficient information on what mother nature is about to release in their midst.

It is intriguing that despite global climatic change, we still hear of archaic terms like “Long rains” and “short rains” in our media outlets that have been used for decades! These terms are not only archaic and confusing but arguably unreliable especially to farmers who still depend on rainfall pattern to determine their farming activities.

Weather forecast in our local TV and radio stations is so shallowly covered that one wonders if it is really of any importance to anyone anymore. Most weather forecast programmes are so hurriedly aired that one can’t decipher what specific areas are being referred to. Take for example; a radio presenter saying, “Areas around Kisumu, Kakamega, Kericho, Nakuru, entire Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley regions will experience light showers in the afternoon accompanied by lightning...and it continues. Later that day in the news you learn that heavy downpour caused havoc sweeping villages in some of the areas noted earlier.

Weather is a very important part of our daily lives and sheer negligence should not be given as they have proved very costly in numerous occasions.

The meteorological department should team-up with media houses to ensure that the information relayed to the public regarding the weather conditions of the day is reliable and accurate.