Staff Reporter

The rains that pounded parts of the country over the past two days do not signal the start of the 2026/27 rainy season, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has said.

MSD Deputy Director for Public Weather Services, Mr Isaac Masawana, said the wet spell was caused by a cloud band moving into the country from the west and should be regarded as normal weather variability.

“We had a cloud system that was moving from the west into the country and it caused some thundershowers that we experienced overnight,” said Mr Masawana.

The system is expected to clear from tomorrow, paving way for the return of sunny conditions.

“We are expecting this system to start clearing tomorrow and we expect blue skies to come back and sunny conditions,” he said.

Mr Masawana warned the public not to mistake the current showers for the onset of the summer cropping season.

“This has nothing to do with the start of the season. We are still far away from the season onset. It’s just like weather is weather. Even in winter it can rain,” he said.

The clarification comes as farmers prepare for the 2026/27 summer cropping season, with the MSD seasonal outlook projecting generally below-normal rainfall, particularly in the October to December period, due to the El Niño phenomenon.

However, the department said below-normal does not mean no rainfall, with isolated heavy storms still possible.

MSD said the official onset of the season will be determined using established meteorological indicators, not isolated rainfall events.