The Samoa Meteorological Office has forecast average to below-average rainfall as the country enters the dry season.

Its forecast is part of a report titled "Seasonal Rainfall Outlook: April to June 2020" with the office projecting average to below-average rainfall for this month to October this year.

Scientific Officer with the Meteorological Office, Silipa Mulitalo, told Samoa Observer that May to October is when Samoa would usually receive average to below-average rainfall.

“The typical dry season begins in the 1st of May and the wet season is from November 1st to April 30th," he said

“From May to October is when we normally get average or below-average rainfall but then in the large scale, so normally there are a lot of climate drivers that really affect how much precipitation that we receive in different seasons.”

But the weather systems during the different seasons are unique and not the same, according to Mr Mulitalo, who said sometimes seasons can be above or below normal depending on the climate drivers.

In the past there was a spike in rainfall activity around February, but he said in the last six months Samoa has not experienced any kind of weather out of the ordinary.

The Meteorological Office, which comes under the Ministry of the National Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E.), monitors the weather 24/7 and after every six months of the wet season, they put together the data and study it. 

The Office counts the number of tropical depressions, what type of rainfall and impacts occurred in order to determine the severity of the different weather systems.