Extreme weather conditions

Heat waves, violent thunderstorms, thick fogs, heavy rainfall, electric storms, our island has been experiencing unusual weather conditions since the beginning of the year. Indeed these are becoming more and more unpredictable. What are the reasons behind this and what should we expect soon?

Since January this year, Mauritius has been under extreme atmospheric conditions. Torrential rain caused much havoc in January and this month conditions such as violent thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and electric storms are keeping us on our toes. The stress level is at its peak as well as people, houses and buildings have been struck by lightning, putting lives at risks and causing destructive flames.

Indeed, as predicted by the Summer 2017-2018 Outlook by the Mauritius Meteorological Services, “atmospheric conditions from January to March 2018 is likely to be conducive for the occurrence of extreme weather events such as torrential rains, flash floods, heat waves and violent thunderstorms.”

But what are the causes of these extreme weather conditions? According to weather forecaster at the Mauritius Meteorological Services, Rakesh Seetohul, it is the humid and unstable weather conditions in our region that favour the formation of thundery clouds and heavy rainfall.

“January to March is known to be the rainy summer season. What we experienced this past week, namely thunderstorms and rainfall during the afternoon, is due to the light and humid wind blowing in the region. These winds favour the formation of thundery clouds.

We have had these mostly in the West, South and Central Plateau region. Some days these clouds also brought much rainfall to north-west regions like Port-Louis and even the north of the island,” explains Rakesh Seetohul.

He further explains that the hot air mass which forms the thundery clouds during the afternoon is known as the ‘cumulonimbus’. “The hot temperatures cause water vapour in the atmosphere, which are carried by upward air currents. Currently, it is the humid winds (air current) coming from the west which are at the origin of these conditions. However these clouds have a short lifespan and they dissipate within hours.”

He agrees that such weather conditions are also due partly to climate change. “Climate change partly contributes to the formation and occurrence of such weather conditions. Conditions which were less recurrent years ago,” says Rakesh Seetohul.

The weather forecaster of the Mauritius Meteorological Services claims that as long as we will have these light and humid winds, we will continue to experience weather conditions such as thunderstorms, electric storms and heavy rainfall.

“It is in April, when we will be transiting into winter, that these conditions will decline.” What should we expect in the coming months? “In the coming months, we will not get any sea breeze. We will have anti-cyclones and passing rains during winter. But nothing major has been forecasted for now,” he states.