African communities benefit from severe weather forecasting project

An acclaimed WMO project to strengthen the capacity of meteorological services in developing countries to forecast hazardous weather is being rolled out in Southern and Eastern Africa, where it is making a significant contribution to disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. The Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project has improved the lead-time and reliability for alerts about high-impact events such as heavy rain, severe winds and high waves, thus helping to save lives and property and supporting vital sectors like farming and fishing. The project shares the expertise and sophisticated forecast and training products of top-level global centres with national public weather services in participating developing countries. It was piloted in 2007 in Southern Africa and now embraces 16 countries in the region, and was introduced in six Eastern African nations in September 2011. East Africa Community (EAC) heads of National Meteorological Services joined a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, 27-31 May to discuss achievements and challenges and provide direction on future implementation.This will inform the EAC five-year Meteorological Development Plan and Investment Strategy.