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Rainfall data spanning a period of 30 years (1981 to 2010) for 6 stations in North-eastern Nigeria were used to determine trend and variation in rainfall for the region. Analysis of Variance and multiple regression were used to analyze the pattern and variation of rainfall over the study period. Rainfall in the study area are in the order of Yobe < Borno < Bauchi < Adamawa < Gombe < Taraba.Yobe recorded the least average rainfall over the years across the study are while the highest average rainfall was recorded in Taraba State. There was visible pattern of rainfall fluctuations with periodic trends in all the locations. Quantitatively rainfall increased at the rate of 40.59 to 132.67 mm/month and decreased at a rate of 2.918 to 9.673 mm/month in the studied area. The decadal means were compared. Evidence from the six stations considered show that there is significant increase in annual rainfall amount in the last decade of the study. It means, therefore, that we are experiencing wetter conditions in the north eastern zone of Nigeria. It was recommended that environmental agencies in Nigeria, like the Nigerian Meteorological Agency in collaboration with the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics should work assiduously toward keeping an up to date records of climate and weather indicators and also making it available and accessible to researchers and general public free of charge.

Keywords: Rainfall pattern, variation, climate change, North-eastern Nigeria.

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Citation: Dammo MN, Abubakar IBSU, Sangodoyin AY (2015). Quantitative analysis of rainfall variations in north-eastern region of Nigeria. J. Agric. Crop Res. 3(5): 67-72.