Storm rainfall on the Njemps flats, baringo district, Kenya

✍ Scribed by Rowntree, K. M.

• Book ID: 102912549
• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1988
• Weight: 706 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 2314-6214
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.3370080306

✦ Synopsis

Annual, seasonal and storm rainfall characteristics are analysed for the Njemps Flats, a semi-arid area near Lake Baringo in the Kenya Rift Valley. Storm rainfall is analysed in terms of intensity, timing, duration and total storm depth. Storms characteristically occur in the early evening, with one storm of around 2 h making up the daily rainfall totals. High intensity rainfall seldom persists longer than 30 min. The maximum 30min intensity recorded was 80 mm/h, the maximum 60 min intensity was 75 mm/h. An analysis of annual and monthly recurrence intervals of storm depth indicate that for a 1 in 10 year recurrence interval, June, July and April suffer the heaviest falls, whereas for a 1 in 2 year recurrence interval the months with the heaviest storms become August, July and April. The significance of this to erosion potential and runoff harvesting are discussed.