TITLE:
Monthly Variability of Selected Weather Elements in the Portharcourt Urban Enclaves, Rivers State, Nigeria from 2010 to 2020
AUTHORS:
Dollah Osademe Chukwudi, Onyeananam Udochukwu Francis, Ozabor Famous, Wekpe Vremudia Onyeayana, Obisesan Adekunle
KEYWORDS:
Variability, Temperature, Relative Humidity, Wind Speed, Monitoring, Port Harcourt
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Climate Change,
Vol.14 No.1,
March
7,
2025
ABSTRACT: The study examined Monthly Variability of selected weather elements in the Portharcourt urban enclaves, Rivers State, Nigeria from 2010 to 2020. Monthly weather data for 2010 to 2020 on temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and wind speed were obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and used for the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analyses. Findings showed that mean monthly rainfall, relative humidity, temperature and wind speed were 2085.06 mm, 77.01%, 27.93˚C and 2.30 m/s respectively. The trend analysis shows that rainfall increased at the rate of 57.73 mm from January to December while relative humidity increased at the rate of 1.4846%. Monthly temperature was decreasing at the rate of 0.1075˚C and wind speed was also decreasing at the rate of 0.0562 m/s. The study concluded that the monthly rainfall, relative humidity and temperature varied significantly from January to December, due to natural and anthropogenic factors, while the wind speed was not varied, due to terrain and pressure gradient characteristics which are similar across the area. The month of highest rainfall was June, temperature was February, relative humidity was September and wind speed was August. The study recommended that more periodic monitoring studies are required to give in-depth knowledge about the variability in the weather parameters in Portharcourt Metropolis. Additionally, more studies on the influence of the seasons and land-use types on climate parameters should be initiated in the area.