climate42

Osun State, a key cacao region in Nigeria, experienced a long and dry harmattan season. Temperatures have been and continue to be extremely high – except for a short period of time in early March. In particular, the daytime temperatures have been particularly high, with maximum temperatures reaching values 2 – 2.5C above the norm, near […]

Late January and beginning of February saw a fairly long and intense harmattan period. However, as of mid February, the Intertropical Front (ITF) has given signs of a northward retreat, especially obvious on its western flank. In the first two days of March, the ITF took a very strong northward leap over Ivory Coast and

Atiwa district entered the dry season with well above average water resources, which supported the trees for longer than usual, despite the lack of rainfall in December. Then, between mid-January and mid-February, the region experienced a month of harsh conditions with no rainfall to ease the burden of water stress. For the past two weeks,

Very high temperatures drove the harmattan index up very early in the season, but drops in air humidity, characteristic of proper harmattan conditions, only started occurring from mid-December onwards. The above-average water reserves built before the main dry season carried the crops through the first harmattan period but were not enough to counter the effects