Brief Introduction
The Early Action Rainfall (EAR) Watch is a climate service product designed to monitor rainfall, identify risk, assess potential impacts, and support sectoral decision-making by providing early warning for Extreme rainfall conditions that may lead to droughts, floods, or related impacts. It supports governments, disaster managers, humanitarian organizations, and climate-sensitive sectors in taking early preparedness and response actions before significant impacts occur.
Purpose:
- The EAR Watch monitors observed and forecast rainfall conditions to assess the likelihood of drought development at reference locations, providing early warning information to support preparedness, timely decision-making, and proactive risk management.
- It provides sector-specific information on rainfall extremes, enabling climate-sensitive sectors to identify their level of risk, evaluate potential impacts, and implement appropriate preparedness and response actions.
- The EAR Watch also assesses rainfall deficits and excesses across multiple timescales (1, 3, 6, and 12 months) to track the progression and severity of dry or wet conditions and highlight potential impacts on water resources, agriculture, ecosystems, Schools, health, Environment, industries, and community livelihoods.
- Through this climate information service, the EAR Watch supports early decision-making across key sectors, including agriculture, water resources, health, food security, and disaster management.