West Africa has been drying out during the past few weeks. This includes a wide area from Burkina Faso to Chad that had experienced a good start to the season. Further to the west from Burkina Faso to Guinea the area has been slightly drier than normal since the beginning of the season.
Kenya remains in a severe drought after the failure of the Long Season rains. Meanwhile southern Somalia, during the same period saw erratic rainfall that wilted crops in the region. The Afar region in Ethiopia also remains dry, but there has been scattered precipitation in the region during the past few weeks.
1) Eastern Kenya is experiencing a severe drought as a result of the failure of the Long Rains. This has devastated crops and pastures throughout the region. Rainfall typically returns to the area in October
2) Light rainfall has marked the start of the rainy season in parts of Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, and Guinea. If rainfall totals improve over the next few weeks normal conditions could be experienced. However, continued below normal totals will result in a poor cropping season.
3) Rainfall during the March - May wet season in southern Somalia was erratic, but precipitation totals were near normal. This led to a poor cropping season, but also resulted in good pasture conditions.
4) Moisture in the Afar region of Ethiopia, and nearby sections of Tigray and Ahmara is below normal. Portions of Djibouti and Eritrea have also experienced dry conditions during the past few months. Rainfall is expected to return to the area in July.
5) Well distributed rainfall has benefited a region from northwestern Kenya, southern Sudan and southern Ethiopia. Pastures, crops and drinking water supplies have all benefited from the plentiful rains.
6) Abundant rains over the past month has favored recently sown crops while giving moisture supplies an early boost across an area stretching from southern Chad to eastern Burkina Faso. There are concerns that recent dryness in the area may be reversing the regions good start to the season.