Climate Hazards Center

El Niño is a major driver of global weather and climate patterns, impacting agricultural production and food security.

In a recent blog, scientists from the UCSB Climate Hazards Center and the University of Maryland UMD- Department of Geographical Sciences-Students & Alumni alongside key partners from the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute Ethiopian Meteorology Institute and IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), examine the potential impacts of the 2026 on Ethiopia's June to September 2026 Kiremt rainy season.

Key Messages:

1) El Niño events are historically associated with suppression of Kiremt (June to September) rainfall over central, northern and northeastern Ethiopia, often leading to below-normal seasonal rainfall and increased drought risk.

2) Current oceanic and atmospheric observations and global climate model forecasts indicate a fully established El Niño by July or earlier.

3) Recent consolidated forecasts from the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute and the ICPAC call for high chances of below-normal rains in northern, northeastern and central Ethiopia during the JJAS 2026 season.

4) Reduced Kiremt rainfall could adversely affect crop production, pasture availability and water resources, particularly in rain-fed agricultural areas of central, northern and northeastern Ethiopia.

➡️ Read more: https://lnkd.in/gqfg-bV8

The Climate Hazards Center (CHC) Director and Climate Scientist, Dr Chris Funk, was featured in the latest issue of the Institute of Technology magazine 2026/1.

In an interview with KIT, Dr. Chris Funk emphasizes the importance of dialogue in advancing scientific solutions, highlighting ongoing collaboration between the CHC, IMKTRO - Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Troposphere Research, KIT and the Kenya Meteorological Department.

In 2024, Dr. Funk received the prestigious International Excellence Award of KIT and the Fellowship of the SCHROFF Foundation, recognizing the global impact of his outstanding interdisciplinary research on climate variability, extreme weather, and food security.

A new initiative has brought together several international collaborators including NSF NCAR & UCAR COMET/MetEd, Karlsruhe Institute Of Technology, and Rhiza Research working closely with the Kenya Meteorological Department to support improved monthly and sub-seasonal forecasts, agricultural advisories, and flood alerts.

This collaboration has already supported forecasts of the early and heavy start to Kenya's March-May rainy season.

This initiative combines AI-based forecasting, the high-resolution CHIRPS dataset, an expanded weather observation network in Kenya through 3D-PAWS stations, downscaled dynamical forecasts and impact-based forecasting to strengthen climate services and early warning systems in Kenya.

➡️ Read more here https://blog.chc.ucsb.edu/

This work is supported by a Fellowship of the SCHROFF Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)

Across much of the world, the number of weather stations has declined over the past several decades, limiting the data needed for accurate drought monitoring and early warning systems.

We are pleased to share great progress across southern Africa.

Through a collaboration with NSF NCAR & UCAR COMET/MetEd and FEWS NET the deployment and installation of low-cost easy-to-maintain 3D-PAWS weather stations has expanded across southern Africa.

Joints efforts with Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe have seen the number of stations increase from zero in 2024 to 45 in 2026.

In Malawi, a recent two-week training on 3D-PAWS concluded with the installation of two operational stations, with the plans to install 25 by the end of 2026.

In Madagascar, an initial two-week 3D-PAWS fabrication training is scheduled for August 2026 to begin establishing a locally managed observation network.

3D-PAWS components can be fabricated locally, which provides a sustainable, scalable solution that strengthens the capacity of National Meteorological Agencies.

Read more about this work here: https://fews.net/fews-net-initiative-enhances-local-weather-monitoring-southern-africa

Learn how researchers help coordinate humanitarian aid in times of exacerbated food insecurity in "Pandemic Famine Response" UCSB UCSB Geography DepartmentUCSB Library

Pandemic Famine Response Identifying areas of increased food insecurity, researchers help coordinate humanitarian aid amid the pandemic

How early warnings of drought help prevent catastrophic famines An international team of scientists is combining satellite data, on-the-ground observations, and climate models to anticipate countries at risk of drought. A...

How a team of scientists studying drought helped build the world’s leading famine prediction model Researchers have harnessed climate patterns to forecast famines months in advance

Climate Hazards Center featured in The Santa Barbara Independent UC Santa Barbara UCSB Geography Department Santa Barbara Independent

Predicting Famine Well Before It Strikes Prevention is key: A starving population has lasting consequences.

We're pleased to announce the launch of our new website https://chc.ucsb.edu 💧 FEWS NET USAID - US Agency for International Development UCSB Geography Department NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Climate Hazards Center - UC Santa Barbara "Coping with hydrologic extremes is equivalent in cost and potential outcome to war and, in many places, the battle for water is being lost."