Showers disrupt life in Jeddah

Normal life was disrupted in Jeddah on Sunday following seasonal showers, causing traffic snarls and leading to schools closing early.
Hospitals in the city were put on alert to take on emergency cases.
Abdulrahman Al-Sahafi, spokesman of the Jeddah Health Department, said hospitals have been linked to a central emergency operations room set up in the Civil Defense Department.
The coastal city experienced partly cloudy skies late Sunday morning with a southwesterly wind blowing at 25 kph and temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius, Mazin Asiri, professor of meteorology at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), said.
Monday, however, may bring some respite, with satellite images indicating clear skies. Schools in the city closed early following light and moderate showers, sending parents rushing to pick up their children.
The showers lasted for more than two hours in Rawdah, Sari and Khalidiah districts, while brief showers were experienced in the industrial area and southern parts of the city. The showers lashed North Jeddah for nearly an hour.
The Jeddah–Makkah Expressway stretching from King Abdulaziz International Airport to Palestine Intersection was jammed for nearly three hours between 9 a.m. and noon.
Parents received text messages from school administrations saying that schools were closing early following an advisory from the Ministry of Education based on weather conditions and traffic jams.
“I had to rush from my office to pick up my daughter, Ayesha, from school, but there was utter chaos on the roads following the showers,” said Mohammed Tanveer, an Indian expatriate.
Saudi youth volunteered to help motorists and schoolchildren in some parts of north Jeddah.
Traffic police patrols also rushed to several areas to ease vehicular congestion on streets close to schools.
What added to the confusion was disinformation circulated in social media regarding cloud formation, which was denied by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME). The presidency said Jeddah was expected to experience average rainfall compared to other parts of the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the showers took a toll on the ongoing construction of pipelines and median strip beautification works along the city's streets.
Mohammed Babidhan, an official from PME, told Arab News that Jeddah's residents can expect a sharp fall in temperature as was witnessed on Sunday morning, which saw temperatures fall 3 degree below normal. They are expecting minimum 22 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 29 C until Tuesday, after which temperatures will return to normal.
n Irfan Mohammed & Fouzia Khan contributed to this report