Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) revealed that the summer rains witnessed in the central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia were “unusual.”

Director General of Weather and Climate Forecast at NCM Hamza Koumi stated that this rainy weather is expected to continue over the coming period due to climatic changes and severe and extreme weather phenomena that are hitting the region and the world.

The NCM said that the rainy weather that affected the central and eastern regions is one of the unusual rainy conditions that occur during this period of summer.

Koumi said that the climatic records of the center’s monitoring stations have shown that the cities of the central and eastern regions have recorded varying amounts of rain since 1993.

The amount of rain in the city of Riyadh on Sunday reached about 26.6 mm, he said.

It is noteworthy that the NCM said that weather radar images showed the formation of a cloudy belt interspersed with rainy thunder clouds accompanied by active winds that extend over several regions of the Kingdom.

The cloud belt will affect the Eastern Province (Al Sharqiah), Riyadh, Al-Qassim, and Makkah regions, NCM said.

The center also reviewed the cities with the highest temperatures recorded on Monday, as Rafha came in the lead with 46 degrees, followed by Arar with 45 degrees, then Qaisumah and Al-Ula with 44 degrees.