Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) expects that Saudi Arabia is likely to witness harsh winter with temperatures reaching below zero degrees Celsius in the coming winter season.

Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the center, disclosed this. Attending a phone-in-program with Al-Ekhbariya channel, he attributed this to the extreme climatic phenomena affecting the world.

“All the initial indications point to the fact that we would experience extreme cold winter in which temperatures will drop below zero.

“The world is going through extreme weather phenomena that affected the Kingdom too, and that included the unprecedented rise in temperatures during the last summer season,” he said.

According to Al-Qahtani, NCM recorded 53 degrees Celsius in the shade in some regions of the Kingdom in the last summer, in addition to unprecedented rains witnessed in areas south of the capital city of Riyadh.

“It is expected that we will witness a significant decrease in temperatures in the winter season,” he added.

It is noteworthy that earlier this month many regions of the Kingdom witnessed moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms caused by the Tropical Cyclone Shaheen that made landfall in Oman.

Shaheen had indirect impact on Saudi Arabia with experiencing air depression that led thunderstorms and moderate to heavy rains in some regions of the Kingdom.