Severe weather forecast in Tanzania following deadly lightning strikes

Recent severe weather in south-eastern Tanzania, particularly the Lindi Region, resulted in three fatalities and 18 injuries due to lightning on February 9. With forecasts predicting more heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, Tanzania braces for further impacts.

South-eastern Tanzania, especially the Lindi Region, has been severely affected by a series of lightning strikes and thunderstorms in recent days, culminating in tragic incidents that have led to casualties. A lightning event on February 9, 2024, in the afternoon (UTC) resulted in three deaths and 18 injuries.

The forecast for the next 72 hours indicates that severe weather, including very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, will persist across most of the country in the days ahead.

📢 Weekly exceptional rainfall forecast 13 – 20 February 2024

⛈️🌧️ 🌧️ Heavy rainfall (exceeding 90th percentile) expected over parts of #Burundi and central to southern #Tanzania.

Details 👉🏾 https://t.co/m9XLUynApZ#forecast #rainfall pic.twitter.com/G0VxR0mSbW

— ICPAC (@icpac_igad) February 13, 2024

This comes as part of a broader pattern of extreme weather affecting several African countries, as noted in the Global Weather Hazards Summary for February 9 – 15, 2024.

Flooding from heavy rainfall continues to affect regions across Africa, including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and specific areas within Tanzania like the Bariadi District, Dar es Salaam City, and the Morogoro Region. Concurrently, abnormally dry conditions due to a delayed start to the rainy season and insufficient rainfall are worsening in parts of Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Madagascar, with western Zambia experiencing particularly significant deficits that have led to drought conditions.

Further complicating the situation, flooding has seen varying degrees of improvement or worsening across different regions. While northern Angola reports improved conditions, eastern areas face worsening floods. Central Mozambique, the northern region of Zambia, KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, central Malawi, and eastern Madagascar are all grappling with the consequences of continued heavy rainfall.

The Congo River has reached its highest recorded levels due to continued heavy rainfall leading to flooding in the DRC. The heavy rainfall has also caused floods to continue in central Malawi and eastern Madagascar.

Meanwhile, abnormally high temperatures are forecast for large portions of eastern and central Southern Africa.

References:

¹ Tanzania – Severe weather – DG ECHO – February 13, 2024

² Global Weather Hazards Summary February 9 – 15, 2024 – FEWS – February 10, 2024

Featured image credit: NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP/VIIRS, The Watchers. Acquired on February 12, 2024