Hot temperature over—Met
By Patience Lunda:
The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (Met) has said the hot temperatures which the country has been experiencing have ended.
In a statement, the department said most areas in the South, Centre and North will experience sporadic thunderstorms associated with strong winds from November 3 to tomorrow.
Met Director, Jolamu Nkhokwe, Monday said the country would experience a drop in day-time temperatures due to a meeting of two air masses from the North and South, whose moisture is pushing away the heat.
“The drop in temperatures will be due to the passage across the country starting from the South gradually progressing northwards of a line of weak converging cool and moist airflow from the South-East and warm dry airflow from North-East,” he said.
However, Nkhokwe said the country is expected to experience hot and sunny conditions later in the month which will not be strong.
According to Met, the country recorded the highest temperature of 46 degrees Celsius at Nsanje Boma on October 29 2019.
Earlier, there were reports that four people collapsed in Chikwawa District in circumstances linked to the intense heat.
In a statement dated October 31 2019, Chikwawa acting director of health and social services, Dr Stalin Zinkanda, said they were investigating reports of people dying from the hot weather in the district.
“For the past few days, Chikwawa District Hospital has received a number of adult cases who presented clinical features that are usually associated with heat exhaustion. These patients were treated and discharged. There have also been four reported deaths in the district. Some of the cases had other pre-existing medical conditions. Some of them were brought in dead. While we acknowledge that the high temperature might have contributed, our office is working to establish the exact cause of the deaths,” Zinkanda said.
Ministry of Health also moved in advising schools “to adjust starting and finishing time for lessons to avoid peak hours of heat.”
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