Kenya Meteorological Department Director David Gikungu has explained that the current high temperatures Nairobi residents experience at night were a result of the heat experienced during the day.
While appearing on KBC on Saturday, February 4, Gikungu explained that the ground was absorbing the heat during the day making it difficult for temperatures to reduce at night.
He added that the situation in Nairobi was also being experienced across the country.
"What happens when there are very high temperatures during the day is that heat is stored by the ground and you may not expect the temperatures to go down during the night.
"Longwave radiation is experienced during the night and it may still be lingering deep into the night and that is why the temperature is high," he explained.
However, he noted that the situation would change in the coming weeks when the long rains expected in March begin.
Gikungu, nonetheless, warned that the rains would be average of the expected amount.
"It is likely to be slightly above average or low. That is the expectation for the long rains for the year 2023.
"Between now and the time we expect the onset of the rains it is quite a long period," he stated.
Kenyans have been experiencing increased temperatures at night for the last four weeks with many lamenting over the weather conditions.
Among the increased behaviours was the increase in the uptake of water even as other city residents complained of health effects.
"I cannot even stay more than 10 minutes right now without drinking water. There are moments where I just feel like fainting," Austin Maina, a Nairobi resident stated.
