Kenya Met Joins Global Exclusive List After Hitting 100-Year Milestone

WMO officials award Kenya Meteorological Department with the certificates of recognition.
WMO officials award Kenya Meteorological Department with the certificates of recognition.
Photo
Kenya Met

The Kenya Meteorological Department (Kenya Met) joined an exclusive list of climate departments that garnered over 100 years of supplying the public with accurate meteorological information.

Kenya Met was on Thursday, May 25, awarded certificates of recognition by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in honour of Voi and Lamu meteorological observation stations.

The two stations were also inducted into the WMO Centennial Observing Stations, a list made up of other stations including those from first-world countries like the United States.

In Africa, Kenya joined a handful of countries with centennial meteorological achievements among them Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Zambia.

Some of the equipment set up at Kenya Meteorological Department.
Some of the equipment set up at Kenya Meteorological Department.
File

"This recognition highlights the enduring dedication of Voi and Lamu observation stations in providing valuable meteorological data and contributing to our understanding of weather patterns and climate dynamics over the past century.

"Let's celebrate! These two stations will now join the esteemed list of WMO Centennial Stations globally," read the statement in part.

The two stations joined the centennial list after meeting the WMO criteria and showcasing their unwavering commitment to providing meteorological observation data for over 100 years.

Voi was established in 1904 while its Lamu counterpart was established in 1906.

WMO is the meteorological arm of the United Nations and works in tandem with over 110 other meteorological stations in weather predictions and studying climate patterns.

According to WMO, Centennial Observing Stations maintain the world’s longest weather observation records, thereby making an essential contribution to scientists’ growing understanding of the climate system, its variability and its change.

"Long-term weather observations aid adaption and mitigation efforts and inform international mechanisms such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to evaluate risks of and find solutions to climate change impacts. Results from the UNFCCC are then assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by WMO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)," WMO explained in an earlier report released in 2021.

Recently, the KMD made a milestone by launching a satellite, Taifa One, into space to help in fostering the fight against climate change.

Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-7 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was successful, on Saturday, April 15, 2023
Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-7 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was successful, on Saturday, April 15, 2023
Photo/Space X
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