The mandate of the KMD is to provide timely early warning weather and climate information for safety of life, protection of property and conservation of the natural environment. This mandate is anchored on Executive Orders on the structure and organization of the Government of Kenya and the World Meteorological Organization Convention. The Convention also recognizes the NMHSs to be the single and authoritative voice and source on matters of severe weather and extreme climate events among WMO’s member states.

• To provide an integrated planning framework in order to enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction.
• To integrate emerging technologies into the improvement of provision of meteorological services and information in order to meet user needs.
• To aid in the Mitigation of adverse impacts of severe weather and extreme climate events
• To enhance human capacity and development of physical infrastructure for performance improvement
• To enhance operational knowledge and techniques in order to improve the understanding of weather and climate applications; and
• To engage in partnerships and collaborations for mutual benefit

The core functions of the Department include, but not limited to the following:

• Data collection and monitoring (observation)
• Data processing, analysis and forecasting
• Data telecommunication and exchange (national, regional and international)
• Dissemination of early warnings, advisories and alerts for severe weather and extreme climate events
• Data management and archival of quality national meteorological and climatological records in Kenya
• Education and training in meteorology and related sciences at the IMTR/WMO RTC-Nairobi to enhance capacities on meteorological services