Expect smooth flight operations from today, says NiMet

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency on Wednesday said air travellers should expect smooth flight operations beginning from Wednesday (today) as the hazy weather experienced particularly in northern states would begin to subside.

It also gave reasons for the present hazy weather conditions being experienced over the north and central parts of the country in the last few days.

The weather situation had led to repeated flight delays and outright cancellations on some occasion in the past few days.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its General Manager, Public Relations, Muntari Ibrahim, NiMet’s Central Forecast Office stated that the present dust haze resurfaced on March 25 as anticipated by the CFO in its weather outlook issued on March 22.

“The dust event is as a result of the passage of the midlatitude wave which helped in strengthening the surface pressure over the Sahara Desert region,” it stated.

It said this activity resulted in the strengthening and intensification of the Saharan high pressure cell, which progressively pushed down the Inter-Tropical Discontinuity from a latitudinal position of 10.8 degrees north on March 24 to 7.8 degrees north on March 30, 2021.

NiMet disclosed that the dust situation was expected to persist till April 1, 2021 when the Saharan high pressure belt was projected to weaken and horizontal visibilities should improve to between one to three kilometers over the extreme north.

It said, “Following this, the region is then expected to experience sunny and slightly hazy conditions over the northern cities, while cloudiness to the south and parts of the central region.

“The implication of this is that Nigerians should expect flight operations to run smoothly without fear of delay or cancellation from April 1, 2021 over the extreme north.”

NiMet assured the general public and air travellers of continuous update of the weather condition as it unfolds.