PME predicts bad weather

The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) is predicting further bad weather across the Kingdom today, with a 70 percent chance of rain and a drop in temperatures.
Government departments across the country have been put on alert for the potential inclement weather that will likely continue until next week. A heavy cold front is expected to arrive from the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Africa.
Said Farhan, media spokesman for the Makkah Civil Defense Department (MCDD), said the Civil Defense has taken all the necessary precautions and are on alert for the expected poor weather today.
"We have plans and support teams in place. We are also communicating with the mayoralty and the municipality, in addition to the ministries of health and electricity to identify problem areas and dispatch teams," he said. He said that the Makkah Governorate has established a disaster response center and has trained teams for this type of work.
"We have also completed more than 90 percent of the sewage system in Jeddah to minimize the impact of any disaster," he said. "We also have around-the-clock communication with the meteorology department," he added.
Prince Mohammad bin Naif, minister of interior, has ordered all government departments to prepare resources, personnel and equipment for the expected climatic changes.
Heavy rains briefly lashed parts of the capital city on Thursday afternoon. The sky was overcast in the afternoon but gradually cleared toward the evening. There was reportedly light drizzle in some areas of the capital. It was also cloudy in the Eastern Province and Qassim, according to residents in the two regions.
Early this year, a report said scientists had identified a physical mechanism behind the extreme weather that has plagued many parts of the world in recent years. “Since 2010, for example, the United States and Russia have each suffered scorching heat waves, while Pakistan saw unprecedented flooding,” the report said.
The report said that scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) had traced in a study disturbances in the air currents in the northern hemisphere. “An important part of the global air motion in the mid-latitudes of Earth normally takes the form of waves wandering around the planet, oscillating between the tropical and the Arctic regions,” the report quoted lead author Vladimir Petoukhov as saying in a statement.