The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has alerted stakeholders and the public on the possibility of deterioration in visibility as a result of observed dust haze.
A statement by the Director-General of NIMET, Prof. Mansur Matazu, said that the weather reports showed the approximate position of Inter-Tropical Discontinuity (ITD). Winds at 10 meters and 800 meters (925hPa) above the ground surface, showed favourable conditions for further dust-haze propagations into the nation, which would worsen horizontal visibility.
Matazu added that observation from the source region indicates that “Niger (Maine-Soroa, Goure, Maradi, N-guigmi, Diffa, 61091, Bila and Agadez) and Chad (Faya-Largeau and Ndjamena) have both reported Dust-Haze with poor horizontal visibility. He said:
- “Hence NiMet expects that In the next few hours, strong winds at 800m will spread more dust into the country thus, causing deterioration in horizontal visibility.”
States to be affected: NiMet further revealed that in the next 24 hours, there are prospects of Thick Dust Haze (In poor horizontal visibility, less than1000m) over Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Borno, Adamawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna states; while Northcentral states are expected to report Moderate Dust-Haze (visibility of 2–5km). This weather condition is expected to persist for the next 72 hours.
Need for precaution:Â The agency, therefore, advised members of the public to take necessary precautions due to dust particles presently in suspension over the atmosphere.
Also, it advised Individuals with respiratory ailments to protect themselves, saying that the current weather condition was not good for their health. It added that the public should expect night-time cold temperatures and canvased warm clothes for little children.
NIMET also advised airline operators to avail themselves of weather reports from the agency for effective planning in their operations.
It further assured that its Central Forecast Office (CFO) would continue to monitor the weather and provide updates when necessary.
