If you want to know when precipitation and drought start or end in Nigeria, then this article will be of interest to you. We will discuss the timing of both meteorological situations in Nigeria.
From now to the end of our talk, you should be able to get a sense of these two seasons.
We will now take a closer look at how it occurs.
Nigeria is well known for both wet and dry climatic periods within a year. These two meteorological situations do not happen simultaneously in all regions of the country.
While during a certain time, some regions are passing through dry weather, other regions benefit from the rain and vice versa.
Rainfall in Nigeria drops for seven months, whereas the dry season lasts four to five months or less.
Periods Rains and Drought in Nigeria
As stated above, the rains do not begin or end at the same time in Nigeria. Both the rainy and dry times vary considerably from the northern areas to the center and southern areas of the country.
The rainy days begin from March to September while dry time usually begins from the month of October to February, although it can extend to the month of March in some cases.
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Precipitation Time in Southern Nigeria
These equatorial places of the country consist o of areas like Delta, Cross River, Ebonyi, Lagos, and some other areas of the southwest.
These regions are determined with many months of raindrops, but it has a short dry time along the line.
Raindrops in the southern areas of the country generally begin around March, although the rains start with very light droplets during this month.
This is imputable to the moist air that is blowing from the Ocean towards the coast and southwest and core south of the country.
By May and June, the southern areas of the country experience strong raindrops. You can notice these periods of raindrops with dense clouds and heavy humidity in these places.
At this stage, raindrops levels rise to about 4000mm in these regions.
As the rain moves toward the savannah and deserts, the raindrops level decreases to around 1600-300. It simply indicates the decline of raindrops toward central and northern areas of the country.
The raindrops decreased slightly towards the month of August.
This short dry time is usually referred to as the August holiday during the rainy days. Raindrops now continue into September to end in the month of October.
But in Calabar, the rainiest area of the country, rains continue to fall till December.
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Dry Time in Southern Nigeria
As mentioned earlier, raindrops begin to decline in the month of October.
Therefore, in November, the dry time begins to set in until the month of February or March. It just means that the southern places of the country have a short dry time.
These are the periods when most farmers in coastal areas harvest their agricultural products.
Arid moments in the southern regions of Nigeria are accompanied by hot winds due to the low level of humidity and total dryness.
This is as a result of the arid weather that is blown from the Sahara desert. Subsequently, the areas become dry and dusty. The condition may cause dry skin, catarrh, eye irritation, chapped lips, etc.
At midday when the sun is hot, the temperature of the coastal areas increases. Even at night, warm temperatures continue to prevail in the regions.
But in the early morning, the temperature becomes cool because of the cold breeze from the Atlantic Ocean.
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Meteorological Situation in Central Nigeria
The Guinea savanna consists of certain areas in central Nigeria which include Benue, Plateau, Taraba, and so on.
These places located at the middle belt experience raindrops of about four to five months, starting from the month of May through September.
In late May and early June, raindrops in the places around the middle belt are mild. Throughout August, these places experience a peak of precipitation.
At this time, the precipitation level will be approximately 1400. But Jos exceeds this precipitation level because their humidity level is higher than in other areas of the middle belt.
Thus, by September, precipitation will decrease and then be replaced by arid days.
The arid moments in the middle belt begin from mid-October through the month of April. That is when the people of those places will experience the detrimental wind.
But the people of Jos will additionally experience cold weather.
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Rainy Period in Northern Nigeria
As precipitation head into the far north of Nigeria, it gradually decreased. Thus, the Far North has few times of rain. In one year, some of these regions get only two to three months of rain.
Raindrops start from June through the middle of September. Around August, these places face the peak of their precipitation, and then in mid-September, the rains begin to cease.
Precipitation may not exceed 500 to 700 mm in those northern regions.
This is to tell you how arid these places may be. Kano alone experiences rainfall for approximately 120-130 days, while Katsina and Sokoto benefit from raindrops for approximately less than the days we’ve just mentioned.
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Dry Time in Northern Regions of Nigeria
The northern areas of the country are notable for having the longest drought period, especially in the extreme north relative to the central and southern regions of the country.
Immediately after the precipitation time is over around the month of September, the arid time begins in October and runs until May or June.
The arid situation in northern Nigeria is determined by the trade winds that came from the dust and sand of the Sahara desert.
So during that time, the weather in the north is cold, it’s around October through February. But begins in March and May, the weather gets extremely hot and unbearable.
This situation will carry on until the next precipitation time.
Nigeria is typically determined by high thermal conditions. Hence, the best time to enjoy the climate is during the winter i.e. around November to February.
Looking at our discussion, you should by now know when the meteorological situation begins and end in Nigeria