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Best Time To Travel to: Nigeria
Nigeria borders Benin in the west, Niger in the north and Cameroon in the east. In the South, the country has a stretch of coast on the Gulf of Guinea. The fairly flat coastal plain then becomes increasingly higher inland and rises to an average height of between 460 and 920 meters. Higher points can only be found in the South-West.
The weather in Nigeria is determined by an intertropical cloud belt or by a so-called intertropical convergence. The intertropical cloud belt brings a lot of precipitation with high humidity and low temperatures. There is usually always dry and sunny weather north of this belt. The opposite pole of this belt of clouds is the hot and extremely dry desert wind Harmattan. The interrelationship between the two phenomena is also known as intertropical convergence. In December and January it lies close to the coast and then moves in a northerly direction in the course of the year until it has reached the northernmost point in August. Then the phenomenon turns southwards relatively quickly from September to December.
Much of Nigeria is getting two rainy periods as a result of this movement. In the North, this is actually perceived as a large rainy season from July to September. The coastal areas, on the other hand, have two separately perceptible rainy periods - in May or June and in October.
The South has a tropical climate. It can get hot and humid here, especially in the rainy season, which usually runs from April to October. The hot and humid climate dominates the south all year round, on average the humidity in the south is around 90%, the average temperatures here are around 30 ° C. Even at night it is usually very warm. In the south near the coast there is almost no dry month, with the driest periods being between December and February and between July and September.
The North has a long dry period from October to April. Then there is relatively little rain, it is warm and the humidity is relatively low. During this time the Harmattan blows from the North-East with its warm and dry air. In the north of the country one can speak of a desert climate. It's warmer here, but also much drier than in the South. The rainy season here also lasts from April to October, but it is much less pronounced. This is followed by an extremely dry period with phases of drought from October to April. Here the Harmattan transports extremely dry, hot air from the Sahara. The temperatures climb very high in the North from March to May, i.e. before the start of the rainy phase. The rainy season is hardly more pleasant here with its warm winds and high humidity. In the North you have to expect temperatures around 50 ° C. However, this warmth is hardly more noticeable outside the regional period than in the South, because it then lacks practically any moisture. The difference between day and night is very pronounced, typical for desert climates, where temperature fluctuations of up to 20 ° C have to be expected again and again.
From December to February the Harmattan has a great influence on the South (except for a small stretch of coast). The coast is determined practically all year round by southwest winds which are only dominated by the harmattan on a few days. On the coast, the phase from December to February is the least rainy, and it rains even less than in the actual dry phase from July to September.
The most precipitation in Nigeria are the coastal region on the Niger Delta and the mountainous border area to Cameroon in the southeast. In the extreme north, the rainfall is comparatively low in direct comparison with an average of less than 1,000mm. Here the rainy season is shorter and the dry phase longer.
The climate of Lagos is representative of the southern coast of Nigeria, the climate of Ibadan for the inland and west, and the climate of Kano for the dry part of the north.
Basically, one can say that the climate in Nigeria offers some extremes and can therefore also put a lot of strain on the visitor. A certain exception is the climatically pleasant highland of Jos or the high plateau Bauchi. This region is interesting as a travel destination practically all year round and is therefore very popular with visitors.
The best time for Nigeria is set between October (better Mid October) and March, i.e. outside the rainy season. At least it is possible that severe storms will occur until mid-October. As mentioned above, October is considered to be rainy for some coastal areas. Therefore, a more sensible recommendation as the best travel time for Nigeria would be November to March. As already mentioned above, the highland of Jos / Bauc could be an exception in general and maybe travelled all year round.
