The climate of an area plays a significant role in relation to its effect on the character of vegetation as well as the people’s way of life and their pattern of economic activities. For this reason, the climate of Zaria deserves a closer examination here. Zaria belongs to the tropical continental climate and it is characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons. The wet season occurs between April and October, while the dry season occurs between November and April. The annual rainfall of the area is 43.0 inches. The mean daily maximum temperature of Zaria shows a major peak in April and a minor one in October. The daily maximum temperature rises gradually from January and attains its highest level in April then drops rapidly to its lowest level in August. The climate of Zaria is influenced by two distinct air masses that bring about rainy and dry seasons. One of them is the N.E. Tropical Continental air mass. It comes from the Sahara Desert between October and May and its dusty dry wind brings about the dry season. The other air mass is the S.W. Tropical maritime, which comes across the Atlantic. It is warm and wet and brings with it rains. The people of Zaria were greatly influenced by the climatic condition of the area in two fundamental ways. Firstly, the occurrence of the seasons over the years enabled the people to divide the year into seasons. Secondly, the two dominant seasons, i.e. wet and dry seasons influenced and determined the economic and social activities of the people in the area. For instance, the wet season is always the busiest period of the year. This is mainly because farming was and still is the major activity in Zaria. The dry season is the period of bush clearance, preparation of seedlings, building of new huts, hunting, fishing, festivities, long-term trading expedition, marriage celebrations, formerly slave raids and wars. Any attempt to study the climate of Zaria should take the various seasons of the year into consideration. These are: Damina, Marka, Kaka and Bazara.[/su_spoiler]
DAMINA
Damina (wet season) usually commences in the Zaria area between late April and early May. It is influenced by the movement in the surface position of Inter Tropical Discontinuity (ITD) further north. The onset of rainy season (Damina) is usually heralded by fierce storms, which is often destructive to lives and properties. After the first rainfall ruwan Shuka or ruwan farko, cereals like millet (gero) and guinea corn (dawa) are usually planted almost at the same time. Crops like rice (shinkafa), tiger nut (aya), peanut (gyada); maize (masara) and indigo (baba) follow shortly thereafter. The first weeding of the plant takes place after two to three weeks. This is normally described as noman fari. This involves a process popularly known as chiro where by the farmer reduces the shoots leaving the plants to sprout in twos or threes. This enhances the growth of the plants. Manure is also applied in order to increase the nutrient content of the soil for the plants to grow well. The second weeding of crops takes place after four to five weeks. This is known as maimai and it involves repeating the same process as the first weeding. From the commencement of rainfall onwards the monthly rainfall increases in each successive month till August, which is the wettest month. The Damina is often the busiest and critical moment of the farming season. The important farming activities during this period include sowing and planting of seeds as well as weeding. Children and women do the sowing and planting while men mostly do the weeding.
MARKA
This is used to describe the peak of Damina. It is characterised by low temperature, high humidity and frequency of high rainfall. This normally took place around August to September. It is observed that there is cessation of rigorous farming activities during this period. This is because by this period most crops are either ready for harvest or at the ripening stage. The main agricultural activities at this stage included the harvesting of early crops such as millet (gero), groundnut (gyada) and planting of late crops like beans (wake) and potatoes (dankali). Then there might be bankasa (ploughing of corn ridges). Most harvesting activities were done by women, while men do the ploughing.
KAKA
This marks the period of less frequent rains before it finally ceases in October. The kaka (dry season) normally commences from September to early October when the ITD starts moving southwards with the dry northeasterly air replacing the moist southwesterly air from the surface winds. This event hastens the ripening process of crops, which is followed by its harvest and storage. Children and women help in the harvesting, processing and storage of the crops. The period after all crops might have been harvested and properly stored for future use was usually a period of intense socio- cultural activities such as thanks giving ceremonies, hunting, wedding, festivals, long-distance trading activities, building of new houses and so on.
BAZARA
This is the period of transition between the dry and rainy seasons. It is a very hot uncomfortable season, which last until the new rains cools down the earth once again. It is the Northward movement of the ITD that causes Bazara across the latitude of Zaria and its environs. This is marked by a change in the direction of the surface winds and the moisture content of the air. The Bazara often commences in March and reaches its peak in April/May. It is characterized by the rise in temperature and low-level of relative humidity. Due to excessive evapotranspiration both surface and underground water dwindles as discussed earlier on. This often causes adverse effect on vegetation and soils as well as human and animal life. The Bazara is always a time of preparation for the next farming season, which involves bush clearing and burning. Men primarily did this activity. Bush burning sometimes has adverse effect on vegetation resulting in the reduction of a densely forested area to a mere grassy and bushy one.