South Africa will be cool on Wednesday‚ with rain in parts of the country‚ but little relief for drought-ravaged provinces.
South African Weather Service forecaster Vanetia Phakula said: “We are expecting a cold front to hit the Western Cape later today‚ bringing a bit of showers in the late afternoon to early evening.
“This will be along the Cape Peninsula up to the South Coast.
Otherwise over the central area‚ which is the North West‚ western parts of Mpumalanga‚ western parts of KwaZulu-Natal‚ the Free State‚ the eastern parts of the Northern Cape and the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape‚ we are expecting showers and thunder showers.” The rain is expected to be light and short-lived.
“It will not be more than 30% chance of rain.
We will be lucky if we get 1mm of rain falling in the Western Cape on Wednesday‚” cautioned Phakula.
The rain is expected to fall along the coast from Langebaan to George.
Johannesburg residents can prepare for a cool day.
Gauteng will become partly cloudy later in the afternoon but no rain is expected.
Limpopo was the only province flagged to have clear weather on Wednesday.

TOPEKA, Kan.
Most of Kansas has not seen measurable rainfall this year and the situation is becoming increasingly serious.
In Wichita, the last measurable moisture of at least one quarter of an inch was 104 days ago, in late November.
It’s been dry enough statewide for Kansas Gov.
Jeff Colyer to declare drought emergency, warnings and watches for all 105 Kansas counties.
“The entire State of Kansas has been considered in drought or abnormally dry conditions for the past several weeks,” Colyer says.
The governor’s office says Streeter, who also serves as the Chair of the governor’s Drought Response Team, recommended the action.
Over the past six months, the governor’s office says, the statewide average precipitation was 66 percent of the normal amount.
In January and February, that average was just 43 percent of what’s typically expected for moisture this time of year.
“While wildfires are the most urgent concern at this point, water supplies can be dramatically impacted in a very short period of time, especially as we start to enter into spring and summer months,” Streeter says.

TOPEKA, Kan – Kansas governor Jeff Colyer has issued declarations for all 105 counties with the continuing drought conditions.
One declaration places 28 counties in emergency status, with 29 in a warning status and 48 counties under a drought watch.
County Drought Stage Declarations: Drought Emergency: Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Meade, Morton, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner Drought Warning: Allen, Butler, Chautauqua, Chase, Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Greeley, Greenwood, Harvey, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Ness, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson Drought Watch: Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Crawford, Decatur, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Miami, Mitchell, Nemaha, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wyandotte The governor said the entire state has been involved in drought or abnormally dry conditions for the past several weeks, and that has created an extremely high risk of fire hazards.
Kansas Water Office director Tracy Streeter said the governor’s drought response team will be watching the situation closely and it will make recommendations to the governor for dealing with the conditions.
Counties in an emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes under an agreement with the state Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.
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Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown on Tuesday signed a drought declaration for Klamath County, directing the state Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Department to coordinate assistance for water users including farmers and ranchers.
“We know 2018 is shaping up to be a very difficult year for the Klamath Basin, and we’re closely monitoring drought conditions here and statewide,” Brown said in a prepared statement.
“I am committed to doing everything possible to make state resources available to provide immediate relief and assistance to water users throughout Klamath County.” Snowpack is just 45 percent of normal so far this winter in the Klamath Basin, according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Brown’s meeting with Klamath officials and committed federal assistance to the basin.
“As we brace for another record-breaking drought year, collaboration with our federal partners will also be critical as we work toward locally supported, long-term solutions,” Brown said.
Scott Cheyne, assistant manager of the Klamath Irrigation District, said the declaration is a step in the right direction.
The district received early irrigation information on March 9 from the Bureau of Reclamation, which emphasized that low snowpack and dry conditions have resulted in low water inflows to Upper Klamath Lake.
“We would like nothing more than to be able to provide our Klamath Project contractors with an allocation for the year as soon as possible, and I assure you we are all working hard to get there,” Nettleton said in a statement released by the bureau.
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On Tuesday Governor Jeff Colyer, issued Drought Declarations for Kansas counties with Executive Order 18-11 at a press conference with Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey and Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter.
The declaration includes all 105 counties either in an emergency, warning or watch status.
“This has led to an extremely high risk of fire hazards and many have already occurred.” The drought declaration placed 28 counties in emergency status, 29 into a warning status and 48 into a watch status.
Over the past six months the state-wide average precipitation was only 66 percent of normal and in January and February the state-wide average precipitation was even less, at 43 percent of normal.
“While wildfires are the most urgent concern at this point, water supplies can be dramatically impacted in a very short period of time, especially as we start to enter into spring and summer months,” said Streeter.
“The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to monitor the situation closely as future outlooks call for drought persisting and make recommendations to the Governor as necessary.” McClaskey, who was also present at the press conference, remarked on the potential impact the drought could have on Kansas agriculture, saying, “The Kansas Department of Agriculture is committed to serving Kansas farmers and ranchers, especially during challenging times like the current drought.
County Drought Stage Declarations by county were: Drought Emergency: Ford, Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Meade, Morton, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens and Sumner.
Drought Warning: Allen, Butler, Chautauqua, Chase, Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Greeley, Greenwood, Harvey, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Ness, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson and Woodson.
Drought Watch: Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Crawford, Decatur, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Miami, Mitchell, Nemaha, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Wabaunsee, Washington and Wyandotte.
For more detailed information about current conditions, see the Kansas Climate Summary and Drought Report on the Kansas Water Office website at www.kwo.ks.gov.

A water company has struck a deal to avoid drinking water shortages in the event of a drought in Hampshire.
Southern Water had warned it might have had to breach limits for pumping water from two environmentally-sensitive chalk streams.
The Environment Agency has agreed its proposed limits for the Rivers Itchen and Test would mean shortages.
The deal was announced on the first day of a public inquiry into proposed new licences for pumping at Otterbourne, Testwood, Twyford and Candover Stream.
The Environment Agency said the change at Testwood was needed to protect wildlife and to "restore sustainable abstraction".
‘Important salmon’ Pumping from the River Itchen and groundwater sites at Otterbourne and Twyford would be cut from 153 to 115 million litres a day, also above current abstraction levels, under the proposals.
There would also be restrictions in summer months and stricter conditions to stop abstraction when water levels run too low.
The changes had been supported by the World Wildlife Fund which said the rivers contained "important salmon populations" and had suffered from over-abstraction.
In a statement, Southern Water said: "We believe we are reaching a solution which will allow us to continue delivering drinking water to our customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, while protecting the precious environment."
The environment secretary will make a final decision on the licences after the inquiry resumes on 27 March.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia Ethiopia has appealed for $1.6 billion in humanitarian and development assistance for 2018 to help millions of people in desperate need of aid.
The appeal was made in capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday at the launch of a Humanitarian Disaster Resilience Plan mapped out by the Ethiopian government in collaboration with international donors.
A document detailing the plan said the fund would be used for 7.88 million people needing emergency assistance in the country in addition to related work aimed at boosting the coping mechanism of vulnerable communities.
Of the $1.658 billion required, official and expected contributions account for $625.6 million, out of which $504 million has been confirmed, according to the document.
National Disaster Risk Management Commissioner Mitiku Kassa said: “Although emergency assistance was instrumental in addressing the immediate needs of the affected people, it would not be a sustainable solution.” He called on donors to “invest in vulnerable areas” to enhance the resilience of local communities to drought and other emergency situations.
The number of needy people showed a 37 percent increase this year compared with the 5.7 million people who had required emergency assistance last year.
Kassa also said Ethiopia’s geographical location made it more vulnerable to climate change and, therefore, it was expected the country would be experiencing disasters due to it in the years to come.
Turkish Ambassador to Ethiopia Fatih Ulusoy on the occasion called for ways to involve the private sector in the delivery of emergency assistance and related community-development works.
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Uruguay will lose US$500 million as a consequence of the drought affecting the region for a few months, the South American country’s rural producers said Monday after a round-table conference with the senators and opposition deputies.
Eduardo Blasina, the agronomist, said the producers need adequate resources to overcome the drought affecting the region.
Blasina also accused Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez of turning a deaf ear to farmers’ issues.
"The government lists a number of measures to say ‘look what we have done and still you ask us for more’ but the issue is not the number of measures but the impact they have," Blasina said according to local newspaper El Litoral.
The government has initiated the Agricultural Emergency Fund (FAE), which provides no-interest loans to family farmers, with no more than 500 hectares (1,235.5 acres) of land.
The FAE loans can only be obtained through the campesino organizations and only by individuals who don’t have an impending balance to pay, stemming from past loans.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Farming and Fishing said the loans will benefit around 2,200 livestock and dairy operations.
The government will also provide soy feed for the livestock.
In the absence of rain, the government must use "every tool" at its disposal to address the shortage of water, Agriculture Minister Enzo Benech said.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) – Governor Jeff Colyer, MD issued Drought declarations for Kansas counties at a press conference on Tuesday.
Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey and Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter were also in attendence.
The declaration includes all 105 counties either in an emergency, warning or watch status.
“The entire State of Kansas has been considered in drought or abnormally dry conditions for the past several weeks,” said Governor Colyer.
“This has led to an extremely high risk of fire hazards and many have already occurred.” The drought declaration placed 28 counties in emergency status, 29 into a warning status and 48 into a watch status.
Over the past six months the state-wide average precipitation was only 66 percent of normal and in January and February the state-wide average precipitation was even less, at 43 percent of normal.
Counties who are in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes due to the Kansas Water Office Memorandum of Understanding with the Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism.
Drought Emergency: Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Harper, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Meade, Morton, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner Drought Warning: Allen, Butler, Chautauqua, Chase, Cowley, Dickinson, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Greeley, Greenwood, Harvey, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, McPherson, Montgomery, Morris, Neosho, Ness, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson Drought Watch: Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Crawford, Decatur, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Gove, Graham, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Miami, Mitchell, Nemaha, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wyandotte

Mogadishu, 12 March 2018 – A nationwide campaign continues in Somalia to protect millions of children against the potentially deadly effects of measles.
WHO, UNICEF, national and local health authorities aim to reach more than 4.7 million children aged from 6 months to 10 years during the overall campaign.
The vaccinations will be available at health centres and temporary vaccination sites.
In 2017, there were more than 23 000 suspected cases of measles –6 times as many as in 2016 – with the vast majority (83%) affecting children under 10.
In early 2017, WHO, UNICEF and partners, together with national health authorities, vaccinated nearly 600 000 children aged 6 months to 5 years for measles in hard-to-reach and hotspot areas across Somalia.
“The campaign will intensify efforts to improve immunity against measles and reach unvaccinated children.
More than 2 years of severe drought has led to widespread child malnutrition, mass displacement, and a lack of access to clean water and sanitation, creating ideal conditions for infectious disease outbreaks.
“The situation is especially critical for millions of under-vaccinated, weak and vulnerable children who are susceptible to contracting infectious diseases.
These children are 9 times more likely to die of killer diseases such as measles and acute watery diarrhoea/cholera than healthy children,” said Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF Somalia Representative.
The response is supported through funding from Alwaleed Philanthropies (Saudi Arabia), the Measles and Rubella Initiative, WHO, and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund.