The National Meteorological Institute (INAM) has issued an alert for adverse weather conditions in the country’s central provinces of Nampula, Zambézia and Sofala next Sunday (12) and Monday (13). The situation, which includes strong winds and heavy rain, could also affect maritime navigation in the region, ONU News reported on Thursday 9 January.
In a press release, the organisation said that a low-pressure atmospheric system formed to the north-east of the island of Madagascar, in the south-west of the Indian Ocean basin, has evolved into a tropical depression. Forecasts indicate that the storm could reach tropical cyclone stage in the coming days off the east coast of Madagascar.
According to the agency’s Central Weather Forecasting Services, the phenomenon has been baptised ‘Dikeledi’, a name proposed by South Africa.
According to Pedro Mutumane, INAM meteorologist, ‘projections indicate that it could reach tropical cyclone status on 11 January, near the east coast of Madagascar. The same system is expected to hit the Mozambique Channel on the 12th of the same month, affecting maritime navigation with stormy winds. On the 13th, it is expected to reach the stage of a tropical cyclone approaching the Mozambican coast, thus conditioning the weather in the provinces of Nampula, Zambézia and Sofala.’
INAM emphasises that it is continuing to monitor the evolution of this system and calls on the population to follow the meteorological information and warnings issued by the national authorities.
On 15 December 2024, the country was hit by Cyclone Chido, which caused significant destruction. Winds of more than 200 km/h and rainfall of more than 250 millimetres in a single day affected more than 1.3 million people, with damage recorded in the provinces of Norte, Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa.
Mozambique is one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, regularly facing tropical cyclones and flooding during the rainy season between October and April.