Osogbo Essay

According to Koppen-Geiger climate classification, the climate of Osogbo is considered to be Equatorial Savannah with dry winter (Aw). The climate of the city is influenced by two major winds: the Tropical Maritime Air Mass which is predominant between March and October and the Tropical Continental Air Mass which also predominant between November and February. This gives rise to two major seasons: the wet and dry seasons. The wet season starts in April and ends in October, while dry season starts in November and ends in March. The months of December and January are usually cold-dry as a result of the influence of direct hamarttan wind from the Sahara desert.
The highest rainfall usually occurs between June and July while the mean annual rainfall is about 1,241 mm. The mean annual temperature is 26.10C and the relative humidity of the area is between 77-86%. With an average of 28.30C, March is the warmest month with average temperature of 23.70C while August is the coldest month of the year. The rainfall varies 193 mm between the driest month and the wettest month. The variation in annual temperature is around 4.60C (http://en.climate-data.org/location/46659/). Recently, Osogbo came under drastic unpredictable climate change like other cities in Nigeria.
1.6.4 Vegetation
Most of the lowland tropical rain forest vegetation of the area had given way to secondary and derived savannah. Such secondary vegetation are due to fuel wood production, quarrying and traditional farming practices as well as other developmental projects like road constructions. Hence, the vegetation of the area is described as derived savannah characterized by gallery of forest along stream sides and tall grasses with scattered perennial trees over land (Moshood and Shinichi, 2009; Raufu,