Rainfall, not sign of rainy season

Accra, Feb 1, GNA - The rainfall that occurred in certain parts of the country lately, does not indicate the beginning of the rainy season. The rainfall was due to atmospheric conditions in specific areas at particular periods, which led to the build up of clouds.

Torgbui Gbebie Fiamekor I, Principal Meteorological Officer and Deputy Officer in charge at the Meteorological Services Department, Kotoka International Airport, made these known in an interview with GNA on Sunday in Accra.

Concerning the harmattan season for this year, Torgbui Fiamekor said the country had not experienced the usual dryness that characterizes the season because of change in atmospheric conditions. He explained that dry and cold South-Easterly winds that blow from the Sahara Desert to the Gulf Coast produce the kind of weather that typify the Harmatan season.

Torgbie Fiamekor said high pressure build up over North Africa which drove the South-Easterly winds from the Sahara Desert to the Gulf coast, currently, were highly collapsible.

He said as a result, the mechanism to push cold air mass through the Sahara to the Gulf Coast was very weak.

Torgbie Fiamekor said the resultant dry wind was not strong enough to transfer coldness usually experienced during the harmattan season. He said the effects of the dry winds were felt in the Northern Region, making the weather there a little bit cold and that this was not the case with the southern part of the country.

Torgbie Fiamekor said judging by atmospheric conditions, it was possible to experience the dry and cold air that characterizes the harmattan season in due course.

He said it was not possible to make an accurate prediction of the rainy season now. Torgbui Fiamekor said the atmospheric conditions that could produce rain did not exist yet, adding that any rainfall now could be due to the build up of moisture over particular areas, as a result of atmospheric conditions.