Powerful Thunderstorms and Rain to Hit Egypt Jan 17 and 18, 2010
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Recap:
There have been more than 10 death cases in Egypt due to the flood in addition to damage to properties. There have also been casualities and/or damage in Palestine, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. There is an unconfirmed report of more than 200mm of rain falling in Sinai.
Photo of Flood in Egypt (source: storm.ae)
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This is what I like about the weather. There are no strict rules the weather has to follow. The element of surprise is always there, and there could always be extreme weather anywhere in the world. At such times, one wonders if the definition of “average weather” has any meaning at all.
Anyways, extreme weather happens when the right ingredients come at the right time and in the right place, potentially resulting in a natural disaster often in the wrong place. And this time, extreme weather has decided to pay Egypt, one of the driest places on earth, a nasty visit!
Rainfall in Egypt is mainly confined to a narrow area along north coast (i.e. Alexandria) where Middeteranian lows hardly graze the north coasts. While average rainfall along the north coast can reach 200mm per year, rainfall amount drops significantly in interior areas of Egypt, where Cairo hardly received 10mm of rain per year, if nothing at all, due to very dry desert air, which makes all cold fronts very dry ones. South of Cairo, only a trace of rain is recorded, or in most cases no rain at all. Some areas can experience no rain for several years.
Egypt-map
But tomorrow (Sunday Jan 17, 2010), a deep upper low that will dive more southward than normal, drawing with it lots of equatorial moisture, and mixing it with cold air aloft, will result in a wide area of extreme rainfall and strong thunderstorms in the eastern half of the interior region of Egypt. Many areas could exceed 50mm of rain within the span of 24 hours only (if not less than 12 hours). And should strong thunderstorms hit, there could be as much as 100mm or 150mm in those areas. With such a very unstable atmosphere, it is hard to pinpoint exaclty where extreme rainfall will hit, but the NE quadrant of Egypt from all the way from the north coast to the mid interior areas of Egypt could experience very heavy rain. But the mountaineous areas of Egypt should really watch out for runoffs and flash floods. I can’t imagine what exactly will happen in an area that hardly receives 10 mm or no rain per year.
500mb heights Moday 00:00 GMT Jan 17, 2010
Rainfall on Sunday Jan 17, 2010
Rain and thunderstorms will also spread quickly to other countries (that are more accustomed to rain) such as Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and NW Saudi Arabia. It is important to note that all of these areas are prone to very heavy rain as well. However, 2 points make interior areas of Egypt under the spotlight: First, it doesn’t rain there and Second is that extreme rainfall will fall in a very short period of time.
Rainfall on Monday Jan 18, 2010
Yes, my husband was on the East Delta bus, heading west to Cairo, and twice it had to turn back to Tabaa today, in Eastern Sinai. There is no crossing the Sinai at this time, and even it was reported that the roof in the hotel was leaking, the internet was down, and the computer was in water. Bad day in Tabaa! My husband will try again to travel in a day or two.
Hi Adella,
Yes there are reports of flooding in Sinai and surrounding areas. I guess the extreme weather didn’t extend westward (to cairo) as forecasted. I wish everyone safety and quick recovery.
please can anybody tell me if El Gouna had torrential floods etc??
My sister has a villa there and I was worried!
El Gounas nearest airport is Hurghada.
Many thanks
Julia
Hi Julia,
Little rain was recorded in Hurghada as recorded in their weather station. Yet, I don’t live there and my best source of information in the web.
El Gouna was hit badly and properties need to be checked
Damage was extensive in Sinai. Whole villages disappeared after the flash floods receded. Cost of damages reached up to 400 million LE (80 million USD) in Sinai alone. Arish got split in half. water height reached 3 metres. amount of rain falling is upto 200mm on some valleys and mountaineous regions.
In Mainland Egypt, almost all of the red sea coast got hampered. Even in Aswan, seeing little rain every 10 years, the main electricity generator from the Aswan High Dam got damaged and no electricity is generated by the dam. Nile water is flowing through 2 separate flood gates since the current ones were used to generate electricity had to be closed till the generators are fixed. Cities such as Luxor, Qena and Nag Hammadi have rolling black outs till now.
On the red sea, Quseir, Safaga, Hurghada, Gouna, Zafarana and Suez got hampered by rain and flash floods although less severe than Sinai and Aswan. Roads where closed only on the day of the rains for 6 hours.