By Chinelo Obogo
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), has alerted the general public on the possibility of deterioration in visibility as a result of observed dust haze propagated into the country from the source region.
In a press statement, the agency said that observation indicates that Niger (Maine-Soroa, Goure, Maradi, N-guigmi, Diffa, 61091, Bila and Agadez) and Chad (Faya-Largeau and Ndjamena) have both reported Dust-Haze with poor horizontal visibility. Hence NiMet expects that in the next few hours, strong winds at 800m will spread more dust into the country thus, causing deterioration in horizontal visibility.
NiMet further revealed that in the next 24 hours, there are prospects of thick dust haze (In poor horizontal visibility, less than1000m) over Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Borno, Adamawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna states; while North Central states are expected to report moderate dust-haze (visibility of 2–5km). This weather condition is expected to persist for the next 72hours.
Members of the public are advised to take necessary precautions due to dust particles presently in suspension over the atmosphere. Also, Individuals with respiratory ailments are advised to protect themselves as the current weather condition is not good for their health. Night-time cold temperatures should be expected so warm clothes are advised for little children. Airline operators are also advised to avail themselves of weather reports from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.