Brace for hot, drier-than-usual weather in August

July was the world’s hottest month, beating a record set a year ago, according to American space agency Nasa.

Kenya was not left behind in this regard with a report from the Meteorological Department saying that the country had experienced a warmer and drier than usual July.

Lamu and Narok counties both recorded temperatures that were 1.7C higher than usual, while Meru had temperatures that were 0.5C lower than expected, with the anomalies being attributed to El-Niño. 

“Usually, July is the coldest month on the calendar, but the slightly warmer temperatures were experienced this past month in a few areas around the country,” Mr Ayub Shaka, the assistant director at the Kenya Meteorological Department in Nairobi, said.

The department also warned in its monthly report that August would see much higher and drier temperatures than usual, which could lead to poor harvests.

“Most parts of the country are expected to experience lower than average rainfall amounts, except western Kenya, where the rains will be as usual,” Mr Shaka said. Globally, the nine months preceding July also set records as the hottest amongst since record keeping began over a century ago, increasing the possibility that the year 2016 will go down as the hottest ever.

Average temperatures around the world are likely to be higher by 0.11C than the previous record set in July, 2015.

Scientists at the World Meteorological Organisation attributed part of the increase in warmth to El-Niño, which has raised temperatures in many parts of the world.

Temperatures in 2016 have been more than a degree higher than at the beginning of the 20th century, according to Nasa statistics.

Kenya experienced a heat wave in March, with some towns recording temperatures of up to 40C