Kenya Met Issues Heavy Rain Warning for Nairobi in the Next 24 Hours

Barely a week after floods paralysed parts of Nairobi, the Kenya Meteorological Department has issued a fresh advisory warning of renewed heavy rainfall across the capital and surrounding regions.

The alert, released Thursday afternoon, cautions that moderate to heavy showers are expected between 9pm Thursday and 9am Friday, 13 March, with conditions likely to persist into the afternoon. The department notes that the most intense rainfall will affect the highlands east of the Rift Valley, encompassing Nairobi, Kiambu, Nyeri, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Embu, Meru, Tharaka-Nithi, Laikipia and Nyandarua.

Residents in these counties are advised to prepare for cloudy mornings followed by sunny intervals, though forecasters warn that showers and thunderstorms are likely to return later in the day. Motorists in Nairobi, already grappling with recent flooding along Uhuru Highway and gridlock in the central business district, face renewed disruption if the forecast holds.

The coastal strip is also expected to experience unsettled weather, albeit less severe. Counties including Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River are forecast to receive light showers overnight, with heavier rainfall anticipated on Friday, particularly along the southern coastline. Western Kenya, meanwhile, is bracing for thunderstorms across the Lake Victoria Basin, with Kisumu, Kakamega, Bungoma and Siaya among the counties likely to be affected.

This short-term advisory builds on a broader seven-day outlook issued earlier in the week, which highlighted elevated rainfall across much of the country. The forecast pointed to sustained downpours in Western Kenya, the Rift Valley, the Central Highlands, the Lake Victoria Basin, the south-eastern lowlands and the south coast.

In the Rift Valley and western regions, counties such as Kisii, Nyamira, Nakuru, Kericho, Bomet and West Pokot are expected to see heavy afternoon showers, punctuated by cloudy mornings and occasional night-time rainfall. The Met Department has emphasised that while sunny breaks may occur, conditions remain volatile, with afternoon thunderstorms likely to spread widely.

For Nairobi and Kiambu, the pattern of light morning showers followed by deteriorating conditions later in the day is expected to continue through the week.