NiMet Plans 100 weather stations to address extreme weather situation - Says Temperature will be abnormally high March-May

Abiodun OBA

NiMet is planning to install 100 weather stations across the country this year to help address the extreme weather situation and increase the dense network of weather stations in Nigeria.

The agency’s Director-General, Prof. Sani Mashi, disclosed this in Abuja at an event to commemorate the 2019 World Meteorological Day.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency said on Saturday that Nigeria will experience abnormally high temperatures this year, especially in the months of March, April and May,

The global community celebrates World Meteorological Day on March 23 every year, and this year’s celebration had its theme as ‘The Sun, the Earth and the Weather.’

In his address at the event, Mashi said, “In the last two years, the agency has invested heavily in the establishment and upgrading of meteorological observatories to increase the dense network of observing stations across the country and has found it richly rewarding in terms of data generation for improved service delivery to all sectors of the economy.

“On this alone, we have so far established 63 additional weather stations across Nigerian universities and other institutions, including secondary schools and still targeting to install additional 100 stations within this year.”

Mashi observed that the installation of these stations was vital considering the extreme weather situations experienced across the world, which had led to loss of lives and property in many countries.

He said, “The beginning of 2019 has continued where 2018 left off-with extreme weather, which has claimed lives and destroyed livelihoods. On Thursday, March 14, 2019, one of the worst tropical storms (Cyclone Idai) made a landfall in Mozambique where it almost completely destroyed Beira, Coastal town and also adjacently affected Zimbabwe and Malawi.

“It also resulted into loss of hundreds of lives and destruction of livelihoods. However, NiMet is positioned to continue to meet our weather and climate challenges in 2019 and beyond.”

When asked what the situation would be like in Nigeria, he said, “Temperatures will be abnormally high this year in Nigeria, especially in March, April and May in some parts of the country.”

Mashi explained that the long-term climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions had committed the earth to a warmer future with more extreme weather and water shocks.

“Against the foregoing challenging background, NiMet produces drought and flood prospects bulletin, the agrometeorological bulletin, as well as the seasonal rainfall prediction. These bulletins are designed to provide relevant information for planning and execution of projects and programmes in various sectors of the economy, especially those that are sensitive to weather,” he said.