NiMet to release 2022 seasonal climate prediction in Feb

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has commenced work on the annual Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) for 2022. The NiMet is working to release the 2022 SCP between Feb 1, and February 8, 2022 to enable medium and long-term climate users to leverage the weather information to plan, especially farmers, airlines, shippers, healthcare operators, relevant government […]

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has commenced work on the annual Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) for 2022.

The NiMet is working to release the 2022 SCP between Feb 1, and February 8, 2022 to enable medium and long-term climate users to leverage the weather information to plan, especially farmers, airlines, shippers, healthcare operators, relevant government bodies in charge of emergencies and the general public.

The Director-General, NiMet who is also the Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, said the early release of SCP is key to NiMet going forward.

Speaking at a one-day Stakeholders’ Workshop for the NiMet) draft 2022 SCP, Prof. Matazu said the SCP is the flagship product of NiMet

He said the SCP is a scientific document that relies on a long-term database of meteorological data, soil information, crop information and skills-sets of NiMet team of experts.

It contains information on the Onset and Cessation dates of the cropping season; length of the growing period;  rainfall amount; temperature forecasts for the hot season (January to April); Dry spell and Little Dry Season and the socio-economic implications of the predictions.

He also said the support of the various partners who have worked with NiMet in downscaling the 2021 Seasonal Climate Predictions to Nigerians is critical for robust distribution of weather information.

“Weather and Climate Predictions are perishable, therefore, the earlier the information goes out, the more beneficial the impacts,” he stated.

He noted that for the year 2022, the agency expects further improvement in the content of the SCP by delivering a product that is of high quality, user-oriented, impact-based and reliable across the various socio-economic sectors.

He said NiMet goes further to improve these predictions by continuous monitoring and regular in-season updates.

“We also carry out the translation of the document into the three major Nigerian Languages for easy communication and understanding by numerous stakeholders at the last mile. We have not relented in our downscaling efforts in which the SCP information are cascaded to State, Local Government and District levels. We also offer sector-specific downscaling of the SCP information to any location within the country” he stated.