The beginning of the rainy season in some areas of the country has prompted the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to issue a warning to pilots, passengers, and the general public about thunderstorms and other potentially dangerous weather occurrences.
The agency’s general manager for public relations, Muntari Ibrahim, stated in a statement released on Saturday that the anticipated thunderstorm was in line with the agency’s seasonal climate prediction for 2023.
The statement read: “NiMet predicted rainfall onset to be earlier than the long-term average in most parts of the country during the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP).
“The onset is expected to start from the coastal states of Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa-Ibom in early March, progressively followed by the inland states and the Central states.”
Read Also: Oregon lawmakers aim to mandate climate change lessons in schools
The statement warned that the thunderstorm could cause turbulence, lightning strikes, strong winds, heavy rainfall, downdraught, microburst, and hailstones while noting that recent thunderstorms recorded in some coastal and inland states demonstrated that the Agency’s prediction was reliable, accurate, and on-point.
However, as part of measures to lessen the impact of thunderstorms on the aviation industry, the agency gave assurances to pilots, the aviation sector, and airport users that weather monitoring systems, thunder detectors, satellite receiving ground stations, and Automatic Weather System (AWS) have been installed across the airports and other stations nationwide.
The agency added that the pilot briefing rooms are always open for business and that it has created a variety of products and services to assist in tracking thunderstorms and their accompanying dangers.
Story was adapted from The Informant247
