The Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted that rainfall date will range from 2nd March to 7th July 2023 with an End of Season (EOS) period expected to range from 26th September till 25th of December.
Director General of MiMet, Professor Mansur Bako Matazu made the prediction known at the public presentation of the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja yesterday.
Matazu however called on all Nigerians to embrace Early Action and follow the agency for in-season updates as while working together to maximise success and de-risk activities.
According to him, the provision of Early Warning Services is one of the effective ways of mitigating climate-induced disasters and NiMet over the years has been the pacesetter in Early Warning Services for all weather and climate sensitive activities across the country.
Speaking at the presentation, the Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika said the early warnings by NiMet were not enough and must be matched by Early Action so that it can translate to disaster risk reduction in Nigeria.
The minister cited examples with the recent flood of 2022 across several states in Nigeria which caused destruction of over 569,000 hectares of farmland, deaths of over 600 people and displacement of over 1.3 million persons in 34 out of the 36 states of the federation which are huge losses that must be prevented from reoccurring.
He commended NiMet for its continued resolve to exceed expectations with prudent management of resources and performance driven action plans which he said has resulted in improved visibility and relevance within and outside the shores of this country.
He said parts of Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, and Yobe in the north and Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, and Rivers in the south are likely to experience a delayed onset.
Sirika also said the annual total rainfall is predicted to be normal to above normal in most parts of the country but said in parts of Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna and the FCT are likely to observe below normal to near normal annual rainfall amounts.
He stressed that the annual rainfall amount is expected to range from 420 mm in the far northernmost parts to 3253 mm in the coastal areas.
On dry occurrence, he said in 2023, Nigerians should also prepare for its occurrence between June and early July as dry spell lasting between 15 to 21 days is in the forecast, especially from the central parts of the country to the North.
He equally said when compared to the last the years, the little dry season (August Break) for 2023 is expected to be less intense and is expected to last between 14 and 20 days starting from late July especially over the Southwest of the country.
Picture caption: Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, Director General of NiMet, Professor Masur Bako Matazu and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Representative for North, Central and West Africa Region, Dr. Bernard Gomez another top government functionary displaying the 2022 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) in Abuja
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