By Chidiebere Ugwu
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, (NiMet),has alerted the public on the possibility of approaching thick dust hazes that can lead to deterioration of horizontal visibility within the next 24 hours.
According to a statement from the Agency’s Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim, General Manager, Public Relations, “the Inter-Tropical Discontinuity, ITD (currently at about 9.60N Lat) is expected to retreat slightly Southwards in the next 24hrs.
“Winds over 10m and 925hPa (700m) are favourable for Dust-Haze propagations into the Northern parts of the country.
“Stations in the source region (Sahara Desert) from Chad (Faya-Largeau, Bol-Berim, Mongo, Abeche and Ndjamena) and sources from Niger, that shares border with Northern Nigeria (Diffa, Maine-Soroa, Goure, Bila, Maradi, Zinder and Birni-n-Konni), have been reporting Dust-Haze in poor horizontal visibility between 300m and 5000m in the last 24hrs.” the alert reads.
Explaining further the statement revealed that due to strong winds, the dust in suspension is expected to propagate to some states in the northern part of the country.
It further noted that this is expected to further deteriorate horizontal visibility over the Northern parts of the country, especially over Katsina, Kano, Nguru, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Potiskum and Maiduguri in the next 24hours.
NiMet therefore advise members of the public to take necessary precautions due to dust particles presently in suspension over the atmosphere.
“People with Asthma and other respiratory issues should be cautious of the present weather situations.
“Airline operators are advised to get updated weather reports from NiMet for effective planning in their operations” it stated assuming that it will continue to monitor the weather and provide updates when necessary.
