Lagos To Have 263 Days Of Rainfall

Lagos State is expected to witness 263 days of rainfall with severe thunderstorms and strong winds this year, says the Lagos State Government.
Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello disclosed this Wednesday at a news conference where he presented the 2014 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction and Socio-Economic implication for Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
At the event held at the Conference Room of the Ministry of the Environment, Bello disclosed that the total length of rainy season for 2014 in Lagos has been predicted to be 263 days with a marginal error of nine days.
“The Seasonal Rainfall Prediction, SRP, rainfall onset date for this year began in the first week of March in the southernmost part of the country and late June in the far northern parts. However, rainfall onset in Lagos Stare commenced from 14 March, 2014 in Ikeja, with a three-day marginal error given,” he explained.
He said the rainy season had been predicted to end between the first week of October and fourth week of December in most parts of the country, noting that the rainfall cessation was predicted to be earlier than normal in most parts of the country, saying that in Lagos, the cessation date was predicted to be 21 December, 2014 with a marginal error of three days.

Bello added that using the 2014 SRP, the rainfall pattern would be similar to that of last year but this year, the month of August was expected to be drier than August 2013, explaining that the rainfall pattern showed that in the second week of March, rain would commence in earnest and increased gradually till mid-July and receed before starting again early September, while the season would finally end in December, 2014.
“In addition, from the magnitude of the seasonal prediction for this year 2014, Lagos State will experience normal rainfall, with minimal intensity compared to the recorded event of last year. Lagos is expected to record 1,960mm as total annual amount of rainfall.
“The strong winds, lightning and thunderstorms which are regular phenomena during the onset and cessation of rainfall was also predicted to occur in stronger magnitude during this year’s rainy period,” he stated.
The commissioner observed that while Lagos would have normal rainfall this year, surrounding states like Ogun and Oyo would have above normal rainfall, “thus, excess flow from dams in those states may cause flooding downstream realistically in Lagos State, if the water is not properly managed.
“The length of rainy season is predicted to vary between 100 days over the extreme north and 300 days over the coastal areas. The predicted rainfall over the central and southern parts of the country would support good yield of both cereals and tuber crops.
“The predicted less rainfall of 2014 and rising temperature could pose serious constraint on livestock production in some areas. Rainfall will be common over the coastal areas with occasional flash flood and ocean surges; this will greatly affect persons living along the flood plains. The magnitude of this devastation shall depend on the activities of the people,” he explained.
Bello said the state government had already commenced its de-flooding programme in three phases, which would be characterized by massive clearing and dredging of primary and secondary channels, expansion of existing drainage channels in order to contain more storm water, among others.
The commissioner appealed to Lagosians to desist from acts that could lead to flooding, such as indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorised places, as silted drains around homes and premises must be evacuated and illegal building of structures on drainage alignments, road setbacks and verges remained prohibited.
“Lagosians are advised to report cases of drainage blockages, dumping of waste into canals and other unauthorised places to our resident engineers whose phone numbers we shall once again publish very soon in major newspapers.
“I wish to state that within available resources to government, the Ministry of the Environment proactively shall continue to undertake measures to ensure that we are able to cope with the rains. We wish to assure our people that our primary and secondary channels will be regularly maintained and dredged in readiness for this year’s rains,” he stated.
PM News