WASM - The WASM Regional Center is monitoring a rare subtropical storm in the eastern Mediterranean region, positioned south of Italy and north of Libya. It will move toward the south of the Cyprus Basin during the middle of next week and will affect parts of the coasts of Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, coinciding with the continuation of unstable weather conditions over Jordan and heavy rainfall showers in some areas.
This subtropical storm is considered a rare occurrence and is the fourth in the history of modern climate records and the first that has appeared since 2019. Four subtropical storms have emerged in the eastern Mediterranean: the first in autumn 2019, the second in spring 2020, the third in early winter 2020, and the fourth that appeared in the past few days, which is considered the strongest so far and is a result of sharp climate changes.
Wind speeds around this storm have reached limits of 100-120 km/hour north of Libya and south of Italy. It is gradually moving toward the Cyprus Basin during the middle of next week. The WASM Regional Center is monitoring its path precisely and any changes that may occur to its trajectory.
It is expected that unstable weather conditions will intensify tonight and tomorrow, Sunday, over wide areas of the Kingdom, with precipitation becoming organized and intensifying especially in the south of the Kingdom and some central and northern areas. There is an increased likelihood of flash floods forming in low-lying areas and valleys, coinciding with heavy thunderstorm rainfall.
WASM advises complete avoidance of low-lying areas and valleys and to follow the instructions of the civil defense starting from tonight until Tuesday due to sudden heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in various areas. Unstable weather conditions are characterized by rapid weather fluctuations and disturbances, random heavy rainfall and sudden precipitation even if the weather is sunny, or the occurrence of flash floods moving to areas that do not experience heavy rainfall. Unstable weather conditions began on the night of Thursday/Friday, with strong conditions in some eastern areas on Friday evening.
