UNMA Issues State of Climate of Uganda
The Annual State of Climate Report: Annually published after a collective research/analysis
The annual state of climate report reveals the extent of climate variability and climate change, as well as the observed extreme weather and climate events in a given year. The report provides information, essential for policy and decision making at all levels.
Global Level: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN-Specialized Agency on Weather, Climate and Hydrology has been issuing the State of the Global Climate Report since 1993. This report, highlights the main weather and climate events that occurred during a calendar year.
Continental Level: The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) has been publishing the State of African Climate Report since 2013.
National Level: UNMA has been publishing the report on the State of Climate of Uganda since 2017.
Climate indicators considered are: Temperature and Rainfall
Temperature: 1950-2019
Analysis
a. Temperature anomalies
b. Trends and warming rates
c. Annual cycles
Rainfall from 1981-2019
Base period/Climatology: 1981-2010 (WMO’s operational LTM)
Analysis
a. Percentage of normal
b. Rainfall Trends
c. Annual cycles
Findings Reveal:
• that there is a general warming trend over Uganda
• Year 2019 was the warmest on record since 1950, followed by 2009, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2011 and 2014.
• All the Twenty (20) warmest years on record since 1950 are years after 2000
– suggesting a warming trend.
• The rate of increase in temperature over the country in the period 1950-2019 was found to be about 0.23°C/decade.
• The recent period:1990-2019 indicated a higher warming rate of about 0.26°C/decade.
• The warming level in 2019 was about 0.78°C above the long term mean value
• The results indicate that southern and western regions are warming faster than other regions. The western region exhibited warming rates of 0.60°C/decade and 0.63°C/decade for the periods 1950-2019 and 1990-2019, respectively. The southern region shows warming rate of 0.56°C/decade and 0.61°C/decade for the periods: 1950-2019 and 1990-2019, respectively.
• The increase in temperature for 2019 alone was nearly 2.20°C and 1.70°C above the expected value for southern and western regions, respectively.
• The observed warming levels and trends over Uganda are consistent with the continental (Africa) and the global warming trends.
Analysis of the mean annual rainfall trend over the period 1981-2019 reveals:
• There is a significant increasing trend over eastern, northeastern and a few areas in southwestern region,
• There is a decreasing trend over northwestern, central and western Uganda.
• Results also show that 2019 (warmest year on record since 1950) was characterised by above average rainfall over eastern and northeastern parts of the country, and the rest of the country experienced near normal rainfall.
• The 2019 extreme rainfall events observed in some parts of the country led to flooding and landslides.