Ready for weather: Tried and tested early warnings for severe weather increasingly important

Six weeks after the intensive testbed in Zambia, a multidisciplinary team comprising meteorologists, forecasters, researchers, social scientists, economists, and user engagement specialists with members of the community will be gathering in Maputo, Mozambique, from 22 to 27 March 2025 for WISER EWSA’s fourth and final testbed with centres also in South Africa and Zambia. 

The Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) programme’s Early Warnings for Southern Africa (EWSA) project is a collaborative initiative implemented by partners in Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, the United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland and Finland. WISER EWSA is funded by the WISER programme and is led by the University of Leeds.

This gathering is particularly apt as the world commemorates World Meteorological Day on 23 March 2025 with the theme, ‘Closing the Early Warning Gap Together’.

Recent severe weather events, i.e. cyclones Dikeledi, Chido and recently, Jude, emphasise the necessity of early warnings that are accurate, and suitably disseminated to those who need them most in a manner that is understandable and relevant, also considering the most vulnerable people such as the elderly and those with disabilities.

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on 15 March 2025 made a vigorous appeal to protect human life in the face of cyclones and other extreme climatic events. He was speaking during a visit to the northern province of Nampula, where households driven from their homes by cyclone Jude have taken shelter.

Testbeds

WISER EWSA has implemented three testbeds since its inception in 2023: an intensive two-week testbed in Zambia with centres in Mozambique and South Africa in January and February 2024; an extended testbed, dubbed the ‘king-size testbed’, running throughout the rainy seasons in the three countries from October 2024 to April 2025; and another intensive two-week testbed in Zambia in January and February 2025 with centres in Mozambique and South Africa.

During testbed preparatory meetings in 2024, Mozambican Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ambrósio Sitoe, said, “This initiative fits within the combined national and international efforts to realise the aims of the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All initiative where everyone will be protected from hazardous weather events by the end of 2027."

What to expect

During the March intensive testbed, the technical team will continue to improve forecasting efforts in southern Africa while disseminating relevant weather forecasts and severe weather warnings to vulnerable communities. An important component of the testbed is the feedback received from volunteers in the communities, known as community observers. They work with the technical team to verify the validity of the issued nowcasts and whether the language and images used are accessible to the most vulnerable – people with disabilities and people with limited literacy skills.

During the recent testbed in Zambia, the team introduced the use of voice notes to accompany the text-and-image-based nowcasts, extending the reach of the information to those with sight disabilities. The use of vernacular languages has also been identified as critical to ensuring these potentially life-saving messages are understood by as many as possible.