High impact weather lake system (HIGHWAY)

The purpose of the HIGHWAY project was to deliver the provision of regular weather forecasts and severe weather warnings for fishing boats and small transport vessels on Lake Victoria.

Project Overview

The project was being delivered by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) working with partners including the Met Office, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the East African Community (EAC), the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Lake Victoria previously lacked effective early warning systems to protect those who depend on it. The NMHSs of the countries bordering the Lake (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) forecast for their own sectors of the lake. A key driver for the HIGHWAY project was to coordinate meteorological services for the Lake and its basin.

Key deliverables included:

The provision of regular weather forecasts and severe weather warnings for fishing boats and small transport vessels on Lake Victoria.
The dissemination of these bulletins widely in the East African region through local radio and/or mobile phones with provision of clear practical advice about how affected persons can protect themselves from the imminent threat or mitigate its impact.

Resources

Find out more about this project in the HIGHWAY brochure and video (English version. French version also available).

Read the blog post Understanding the weather information needs of fishermen on Lake Victoria - June 2018

News articles on how HIGHWAY has improved early warnings on Lake Victoria have been published on the WMO website and PreventionWeb. An article was also published on the NECJOGHA website entitled 'expert clarifies on forecasting water spouts' - July 2019.

News article - UNMA releases weather alerts for marine users - July 2019

News articles have been published on how forecasting is being improved on Lake Victoria - Daily Camera and Meteorological Technology International - October 2019

View technical forecast information developed as part of HIGHWAY here - HIGHWAY FOREST and HIGHWAY field catalogue

New documentation October 2019 - Intercomparison of Tahmo, 3DPAWS automatic weather stations and KMD's Dagoretti Corner, Nairobi synoptic weather station data; HIGHWAY intermediate field campaign report; HIGHWAY visualisation fact sheet

Report of the observational data inter-comparison study

News article - 17 year old drowns on Lake Victoria - February 2020

Case study - The low down on high-tech forecasting - March 2020

Case study - The power of partnership - June 20

BBC World Service podcast - How to prevent drowning - September 2020

The Socio-Economic Benefits of the HIGHWAY project - summary report - November 2020

The Socio-Economic Benefits of the HIGHWAY project - full report - November 2020

HIGHWAY: Integrating Scientific Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge in Impact Weather Forecasting - January 2021

HIGHWAY overview leaflet - French - February 2021

HIGHWAY overview leaflet - English - February 2021