Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has explained the prevalence of hazy weather over the north and central part of the country in the last few days is a result of the movement the midlatitude wave which helped in strengthening the surface pressure over the Sahara Desert region.
The weather, according to NiMet’s Central Forecast Office (CFO) in Abuja, resurfaced on Thursday last week, March 25 2021 as anticipated by the department in its weather outlook issued on Monday March, 22 2021.
A release signed by General Manager, Public Relations, Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim, said that midlatitude wave resulted in the strengthening and intensification of the Saharan high pressure cell, which progressively pushed down the Inter-Tropical Discontinuity (ITD) from a latitudinal position of 10.8 degrees North on Wednesday March 24, to 7.8 degrees North on Tuesday 30th of March, 2021.
The statement read, “The dust event is as a result of the passage of the midlatitude wave which helped in strengthening the surface pressure over the Sahara Desert region.”
NiMet disclosed further that the dusty situation is expected to persist till Thursday April1, 2021 when the Saharan high pressure belt is projected to weaken and horizontal visibilities should improve to between 1-3 kilometers over the extreme north.
With this, the region is then expected to experience sunny and slightly hazy conditions over the northern cities, while cloudiness to the south and parts of the central region.
The implication of this, according to the release, is that Nigerians should expect flight operations to run smoothly without fear of delay or cancellation from Thursday 1st April, 2021 over the extreme north.
While assuring the general public and indeed travellers of continuous update of the weather conditions as they unfold, NiMet wishes them a happy Easter celebration.
