SEASONS AND CLIMATIC REGIONS IN NIGERIA

The seasons in southern Nigeria 

The seasonal pattern of southern Nigeria is different from that of the north. In the south there are four seasons. 

1. The long wet season. This starts in mid-March and lasts till July. It is the season of heavy rains and high humidity. Plants look fresh and green, weeds grow rapidly, flowers are in bloom and gardens look (attractive. This is the planting season.

2. The short dry season. This is the August break to which reference has already been made. It starts in July-August and lasts for about a month.

3. The short wet season. This follows the August break and lasts from September to October. The rainfall is not usually as heavy as during the first wet season and the total amount is also less. 

4. The long dry, or harmattan, season. This season follows and continues from November to midMarch. Harmattan mornings are cool and misty, but the mist disappears with the rising of the sun. Afternoons are full of haze, because of the dust particles in the air brought down by winds from the north. The air is so dry that wet washing dries almost as soon as it is put out. Grass die's off and lawns look patchy. Flowers wither, and some leaves turn brown and fall from the trees. 

The seasons in northern Nigeria 

In the north, the long dry season starts earlier and lingers on later. The August break does not exist, and so the two wet seasons become one. We are therefore left with two seasons a long dry one from October to April, and a wet one for the remaining live months. 

1. The long dry season. During this time the lack of rainfall and the dry atmosphere develops cracks on clay soils. Untarred roads are full of brown dust. The dust rises behind every moving vehicle in a cloud of millions of suspended particles, to be deposited in thick layers on the vegetation at the sides of the roads. Dust settles on everything furniture, clothes and housetops. This season is, however, a welcome one because the nights are cool and the afternoon haze helps to ward off the sun’s heat.

2. The wet season. This season is ushered in by frequent storms. Laterite-surfaced roads are gullied and become progressively worse with the subsequent heavy rains. This is the planting season in the north. 

Climatic regions  

1 the sub-equatorial south; 

2 the tropical hinterland; 

3 the tropical continental north, and

4 the high plateaux.

A detailed notes on climatic regions of Nigeria will be published later