Climatology

The role of the division is to observe and understand Lesotho's weather and climate and provide meteorological services in support of Lesotho's needs and international obligations.

Climate of Lesotho
Lesotho is land locked and surrounded only by the Republic of South Africa. It is situated approximately between 28° S and 31° S latitudes and longitude 27° E and 30° E. The land area is about 30 000 sq.km. The arable land area is about 12% of the total area. However, the arable land is vulnerable due to severe soil erosion. It is estimated that 40 million tons of soil per year is lost through erosion (6th development plan).
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Station Network
This section deals with the management of all observational climate network of LMS.
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Climate Data Management
The role of this sub-division is to collect, record and archive weather/climate data from the department’s observational network. The main data processing operations have been automated, with the help of computers in all stages of processing. Data entry, quality control, archival and retrieval are carried out through software adopted from the World Meteorological Organization, CLICOM which is now being replaced by later database, CLIMSOFT.

Climate Monitoring
Analysis of meteorological observations, monitoring of the climate of Lesotho including climate change studies and research are done in this section.

• Development of meteorological and related data and products, including the historical climate record, the description and diagnosis of current meteorological conditions and the future.
• Perform meteorological and related research, including findings of: pure research into atmospheric processes and phenomena, strategic research into the mechanisms of Lesotho’s weather and climate, applied research and development of the applications of meteorology to national community needs
• Publishing on a routine basis weekly weather summaries and monthly meteorological bulletins for the climate of Lesotho
• Study the evolution of extreme events and the impacts of small scale, medium scale and mesoscale atmospheric properties and their impacts on the climate of Lesotho

Data Services and Consultancies
The section provides meteorological and related services; weather and climate, climate data, analysis and prediction services, for the community at large, agriculture, civil aviation, construction, insurance, primary, secondary and tertiary industry, etc… the section also provides consultancy services including provision of meteorological advice and the conduct of special investigations.

Data received from stations is processed to generate different kind of products:

• Daily rainfall data and hourly rainfall measurements where facilities are installed are analysed on monthly, seasonal, annual and pre-defined periods to generate a wide range of products for various applications.
• Temperatures are processed are processed on similar time scales as rainfall to generate, among other products, monthly means on maximum and minimum temperatures and extreme temperatures.
• Dry bulb temperatures are also averaged on monthly basis.
• All other meteorological data are averaged on a monthly basis and the monthly averages are kept in a climate data bank.
• The data is periodically updated to get climate statistics.

Data Requisition
Data is freely given upon request, to request data:
- Give details of your name, institution, address and contacts
- Purpose for which the data is required
- Details of the kind of data, and the length required

Tel: (+266) 2231 2920
Fax: (+266) 2232 5057

Read the Data Use Policy data use policy before requesting data.