RIYADH, 14 January 2008 — Mist and drizzle, coupled with severe cold of 6 degrees Celsius, paralyzed the flow of traffic in the streets of Riyadh yesterday afternoon, while high-rise buildings — such as the Faisaliah and the Kingdom’s Towers — remained invisible to the naked eye throughout the day.
Vehicles here were crawling at snails’ pace with their hazard lights and headlights on, as visibility was limited to only 2kms. Wind speed was measured to be at 80 kmph.
According to an official from the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), the city will experience a colder wet spell during the night.
In the Eastern Province, the wind was howling in the northwestern direction at a speed of 160 kmph with a cloudy sky. Visibility was confined to 1.5 km. The PME expects rains with thunderstorms in the evenings.
Weather was pleasant in the Western Province with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and winds blowing in the northwestern direction at a speed of 10 kmph. The official said that the same weather condition would prevail in the Western Province till Friday.
Extreme weather conditions have caused casualties in the Al-Qassim region. A schoolgirl who was standing at the school assembly in Hail, succumbed to severe freezing cold, while an Egyptian farmer died because of cold weather. In Batra, a Bangladeshi worker suffered paralysis to the right side of his body. Doctor said the prevailing weather condition was the cause of the man suffering a stroke.
Neither stall owners nor shoppers came to village fairs in the suburbs because of the cold climate.
According to the BBC, the temperature today will come down from 4 to 2 degrees Celsius. Riyadh is also expected to experience more rain.
