The Kenya Meteorological Department has launched a new mobile application that will provide near-real-time information on storms across the country.
The platform, dubbed 'FASTA' (an acronym for Forecasting African Storms Application), was announced on Tuesday and is a basic app that warns of heavy rainfall in a specific location for up to two hours.
One can also search for a location in Kenya to obtain rainfall information, though the app does not provide temperature forecasts or information on other meteorological phenomena.
The FASTA app is only available for Android users through the Google Play Store. It does not require sign-up, and all that is required after downloading is to ensure that the device's location setting is turned on.
On the Play Store, the app is labelled as still in development, and users can provide feedback to help improve it.
On Tuesday, some new users reported receiving error messages when attempting to fetch the rainfall forecast for their location.
The Met Department issues weather forecasts at the start of each week, and the app arrives at a time when Kenya is experiencing the long rainy season, which typically begins in mid-March.
The meteorological agency predicts that rains will continue until June.
Floods have affected hundreds of families in Nairobi, Baringo, Mwea, Tana River, and Kirinyaga since the long rainy season began.
On Tuesday, some new users reported receiving error messages when attempting to fetch the rainfall forecast for their location.
The Met Department issues weather forecasts at the start of each week, and the app arrives at a time when Kenya is experiencing the long rainy season, which typically begins in mid-March.
The meteorological agency predicts that rains will continue until June.
Floods have affected hundreds of families in Nairobi, Baringo, Mwea, Tana River, and Kirinyaga since the long rainy season began.
Tags:
Headlines