By Ere-ebi Agedah
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has disclosed that the year 2023 will experience earlier than the long-term average rainfall in most parts of the country.
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who stated this in Abuja on Tuesday during the launch of the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) noted that parts of Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo and Rivers are likely to experience delayed onset of rainfall.
According to him, the earliest rainfall onset date was predicted to be earlier than the long-term average in most parts of the country and is likely to occur on or around the March 2, in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and environs.
He added that strong windstorms across the country and sandstorms in the extreme northern states can occur before the onset of rainfall.
“The annual total rainfall is predicted to be normal to above normal in most parts of the country.
“The rainfall onset date is predicted to be earlier than the long-term average in most parts of the country.
“However, 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. The onset dates will range from 2nd March to 7th July 2023,” the prediction stated.
“The onset is expected to become established in early March from the coastal states of Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom; in April for the Inland States of the South; in May around the central States and around July in the northern States.
“Parts of Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna, and FCT are likely to observe below normal to near normal annual rainfall amounts.
“The annual rainfall amount is expected to range from 420 mm in the far northernmost parts to 3253 mm in the coastal areas.
“Dry spell occurrences have characterised our seasons in recent years. In 2023, we 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.
“When compared to the last years, the little dry season (August Break) for 2023 is expected to be less intense. It is expected to last between 14 and 20 days starting from late July, especially over the Southwest of the country.
“An early End of Season (EoS) is predicted over parts Osun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Lagos, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi.
However, an extended rainfall season is predicted over parts of Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu, Anambra, western Ogun, and Lagos.
“The end of season period is expected to range from the 26th of September till 25th of December,” it added.
Also, Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed said, NiMet’s seasonal climate prediction helps NEMA conduct an analysis of disaster risk implications and produce disaster early warning messages for the protection of lives and assets.
He said the unprecedented flood disaster in 2022 was an eye-opener, noting that the agency intends to plan ahead and intensify inter-agency collaboration to forestall any negative impacts.
“At the end of this auspicious event, I look forward to bringing together experts from NIMET and other relevant agencies under one roof to analyse the disaster risk implication of the SCP and develop necessary advisories including risk mapping to guide all NEMA partners to mitigate disaster losses across the nation,” Ahmed said.
“I make bold to say that the negative impacts of the annually recurring flood disaster in Nigeria could have been more devastating without the early warning information developed out of the NIMET SCP and downscaled to the various end-user agencies and the general public,” said.
The 2023 NiMet Seasonal Climate Prediction, SCP, with the theme ‘‘Strengthening Climate Risk Early Warning Services For Improved Food Security And Disaster Risk Reduction In Nigeria’’ had representatives from other African countries including Gambia and Republic of Niger in attendance.
