In 2022, the Senegalese meteorology department sent over 500,000 messages (SMS) to users to inform and/or alert them of rainfall or extreme weather events.
Quality weather forecasting requires modern observation equipment, state-of-the-art forecasting tools, and highly qualified and motivated staff. Thus, the National Agency of Aviation and Meteorology (ANACIM) has undertaken a vast program of renovation and rehabilitation of its observation network. The stations of Mbour, Fatick, Ranerou have been completely rebuilt and equipped. The stations of Velingara, Louga, Kolda, Koungheul are under construction and/or rehabilitation.
“The weather stations of Saint-Louis, Matam, Kaolack, Ziguinchor, Kedougou, Cap-Skiring and Linguere will be fully rehabilitated. The data collected from these stations feed our meteorological database. They allow us, among other things, to measure the degree of climate variation and to note the impacts of climate change on our region, which are manifested by an unusual frequency of extreme weather events. I can cite heat waves, exceptional rains etc.,” Malick Sonko explained on Thursday, March 23 in Dakar.
The chief of staff of the Minister of Air Transport and Airport Infrastructure Development chaired the World Meteorological Day focused this year on the theme: “The future of weather, climate and water across generations.”
In his speech, Sonko stressed that “with the consequences of climate change, it is vital to increase our mastery of weather, climate and the water cycle to better ensure sustainable development.”
“We need to improve our early warning systems by strengthening risk knowledge and communication to make proactive decisions. Recognizing the growing demand for weather information, ANACIM has put user concerns at the heart of its policy,” he added.
According to its Director General, Sidy Gueye, ANACIM is committed to providing appropriate weather services but also to accompany the populations to strengthen their resilience to the effects of climate change.
Today, he added, “it is certain that the populations are becoming more and more aware of the challenges of the weather. It is a duty for everyone to commit to a good cause and the fight against climate change is one of them.”
TE/lb/abj/APA