The National Center for Meteorology in Saudi Arabia issued a red alert on Monday, warning of unstable weather conditions directly affecting the Al-Jawf and Northern Borders regions. This warning is part of the center's ongoing monitoring of weather fluctuations to ensure the safety of citizens and residents.
The center explained in its report that the expected weather conditions include the governorates of Al-Qurayyat, Tabarjal, and Tarif, where these areas are expected to experience strong surface winds that will stir up dust and sand. This condition may develop into strong dust storms leading to near-zero horizontal visibility, necessitating the utmost caution, especially for those traveling on highways and in open areas.
The importance of the red alert and safety measures
The "red alert" is the highest level of warning in the National Center of Meteorology's automated early warning system, indicating a severe weather phenomenon requiring immediate precautionary measures. In such cases, relevant authorities, including Civil Defense and Highway Patrol, advise postponing non-essential road travel during the peak of the storm, ensuring vehicles are in good working order and have proper lighting, and keeping windows tightly closed to prevent the entry of heavy dust.
In such weather conditions, doctors and health specialists warn respiratory patients, asthma sufferers, and allergy sufferers against direct exposure to dust, and advise wearing medical masks when absolutely necessary to go out, to avoid health complications that may result from inhaling fine dust particles.
Fog conditions in other areas
In related news regarding the weather in Saudi Arabia, the fluctuations were not limited to dust storms in the north. The center had previously warned in its morning report of the formation of fog of varying intensity across large parts of the Kingdom. The warnings covered nine different regions, where foggy conditions prevailed during the early morning hours, reducing horizontal visibility to between 3 and 5 kilometers in some areas, and reaching near-zero visibility (1 to 3 kilometers) in others.
These weather fluctuations reflect the dynamic nature of the Kingdom’s climate during this period of the year, as different air masses interact, causing a clear contrast between regions, ranging from dust storms in the north to dense fog in other areas, which confirms the importance of following official weather bulletins on a regular basis.
