Rain, unstable weather forecast for the week

RIYADH: A top Saudi scientist has issued an alert about unstable weather conditions in the coming days, warning about moderate to heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and fluctuating temperatures that may drop to 0°C in some parts of the Kingdom.

Mansour Al-Mazroui, director of the Center of Excellence for Climate Change Research at King Abdul Aziz University (KAU), said that the whole Arabian Gulf region will be affected by inclement weather conditions for a week from now.

Al-Mazroui said that there is a chance for varying amounts of rain showers associated with thunder, with active to strong winds. He urged people to take the necessary precautions, as days and nights in many regions of Saudi Arabia, besides Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, will also be cold and wet because of the fluctuating weather conditions. “The rainy days in the Kingdom will begin Thursday in the central, eastern and southwestern regions,” said the Saudi scientist, adding that rainfall will continue until Nov. 28. 

Riyadh witnessed intermittent drizzling since Thursday morning. Al-Mazroui said that the capital city is likely to be lashed by rains, while other regions, including the holy city of Makkah, will be affected by wetter weather. He explained that the intensity of rainfall will be mainly moderate, but some regions may receive heavy rainfall.

Asked about the extent of rainfall, and thunderstorms and the sandstorms that can cause problems for the traffic, he said that “there are chances of rain, dust and thunderstorms in a



number of places in the northern, northeastern, western, southwestern eastern and central parts of the Kingdom during the forecast period.” “Day temperatures are likely to drop significantly due to this trough in the northern, central, western, northwestern and eastern parts,” he added.

He said that there are chances of rain and thunderstorms over southwestern, central and eastern regions including the holy city of Madinah, Taif, Abha, Bisha, Rafah, Qassim, Riyadh, Dammam and Jubail. Many other cities including Jazan, Baha and Riyadh will also be affected by rain and storms on Saturday. “Another significant rainfall system is likely to approach Jeddah and southwestern region on Nov. 30,” he added.

Al-Mazroui, member of a team that prepares the national strategic plan for environmental technology in Saudi Arabia, said that people in the Kingdom and most of the GCC countries like Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and to some extent the UAE, are experiencing winter rainfall in the last week of November. He said minimum temperatures are likely to drop below 0°C in the northern and northeastern parts of Saudi Arabia. 

The Directorate General of Civil Defense has also issued an alert about the inclement weather that will continue through Tuesday. 

Cautioning its citizens, the US Embassy in Riyadh also urged all Americans to use the weather warning as an opportunity to assess their emergency preparedness. A message posted on the US Embassy website urged all US nationals “to prepare for inclement weather.”