NiMeT Warns Pilots, Operators Over Poor Visibility In Kano, Bauchi, Others

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT), on Thursday, warmed Pilots and Airline operators of possible deterioration in visibility due to observed dust-haze propagated into the country from the source region.

In a release signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs, NiMet, Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim, the agency advised airline operators to avail themselves of weather reports from the agency for effective planning of their operations.

The statement disclosed that weather reports indicated favourable conditions for further dust-haze propagation into the nation, which, the agency, said will worsen horizontal visibility.

The statement reads, “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.”

According to NiMet, in the next few hours, strong winds at 800m were expected to spread more dust into the country, thus causing deterioration in horizontal visibility.

“While in the next 24 hours, there are prospects of thick dust haze (In poor horizontal visibility, less than 1000m) 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,” the statement added.

The Agency assured that its Central Forecast Office (CFO) will continue to monitor the weather and provide updates when necessary.

It, therefore, advised members of the public 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.