Egypt | Emirates Meteorology Blog

May 2010 to Start with a Bang in Arabia

April 30th, 2010

More weird weather on the way!

May, a month that is supposed to be dry, one month away from June, the start of summer, will start with a fresh and strong round of thunderstorms and rain over central and NW Arabian Peninsula.

A deep low (typical of late winter) will pass over Turkey and cooler air into northern Arabia, resulting in explosive thunderstorms over a large part of Saudi Arabia. Western Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are also at risk of these thunderstorms. Rain and thunderstorms will also extend to much of Iraq and western Iran. The middeteranian countries and Egypt might also be getting some showers and a few thunderstorms.

God help Saudi Arabia from these monsterous thunderstorms! The probability of flood is there!

Rainfall during the next 7 days. Purple spots indicate heavy rain

Summer Meets Winter; Showers and Thunderstorms in the UAE & Oman Feb 27-28, 2010; Severe Weather Possible March 1-2, 2010

February 26th, 2010

Surface lows and fronts on Fri Feb 26 2010

An upper low is currently over the middeteranian countries which brought rain showers and thunderstorms there including some heavy showers to Egypt. There are also rain and thunderstorms over parts of Iraq, Iran, NW Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Currently hot weather with southerly winds are affecting the UAE & Oman. It feels like summer here in the UAE with temperatures hovering in mid 30s. Right now the cold front (blue) is unable to cause any rain/thunderstorms formation due to interaction with dry air. On Saturday/Sunday it will result in thunderstorms and rain showers over many parts of the UAE (especially north) and northern Oman (Slight chance of rain in Bahrain and Qatar). Some thunderstorms could be strong. Rainfall amounts could be anywhere between 1 to 25 mm.

Spring starts on March 1st, 2010 with a collision between summer and winter with heavy rain and thunderstorms in the UAE.

Powerful Thunderstorms and Rain to Hit Egypt Jan 17 and 18, 2010

January 16th, 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.