The silent monster called weather

Unless you stay in Nyungwe forest or some parts of the Northern Province, you will agree with me that it’s been blazing hot of recent. As I talked to other people, I realized then how much weather is such a huge player in any economy. Weather affects every aspect of our lives. It impacts our pocketbooks, our menus, our schedules and even our health. This is not a Western phenomenon because either way it comes down to me in Kimironko. Changes in the weather, either real or predicted, will affect the price of everything we buy, from peas to the boda-boda services. Sometimes the effect will be in our favor, sometimes it won’t. Weather has such a huge impact on the commodities market that traders and analysts pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars a month for commentaries on long-range weather forecasts in the developed world. These commentaries make the rounds among traders and analysts two or three times a week. Based on these commentaries, the price of grain, cattle, beans, and all sorts of agriculture products is driven up or down. Unlike our local weather forecasts that none of us listens to or trusts, the modern world has gone as far as companies having their own meteorologists in the name of accurate forecasts especially those that sell products based on weather. How much do you think the weather affects your daily schedule? Now, I don’t mean being a minute late to work because you had to run back in the house and grab an umbrella, but how does the weather seriously impact your plans? Think millions of Francs lost because that truck did not make it out of that village due to heavy rains or the sleepy check in officer who enters the wrong invoice at Magerwa on a very humid day thereby stalling your business plans for a couple of days. Did you know that today’s weather will affect the aches and pains you will feel in two or three days? At least that is what some physicians believe. I always thought today’s weather brought me today’s aches and pains, but it appears the human body has a lag time of several days. It is possible to predict when you and I will feel these aches, pains and migraines a day or two in advance. Think of how wonderful it will be in the future when you can call the doctor and the appointment desk will have an opening available for you because your medical records matched the criteria for today’s aches-and-pains index! The use of weather information goes far beyond, “partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain.” The price of food and the convenience of having items stocked at your store, the mini-golf place open when you’d like to go and the supply of electricity for your home are all governed by the weather. Your physical health is affected by the weather. Many of the things you will do this day will be based on the weather. Nyagapfizi Emmanuel is a Management Information Systems manager badthoglous@yahoo.com