Saudi Arabia set for soggy end to year, meteorologists say

Most regions of Saudi Arabia will experience higher than average rainfall in the final months of the year, according to the National Center of Meteorology.

The upcoming autumn season, from mid-September to mid-December, is likely to see 50-60 percent more rain than normal, it said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Eastern and Northern Borders regions, Al-Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf, Tabuk, Madinah and parts of the Riyadh and Makkah regions are expected to see the largest downpours, with most of the rain coming in October and November.

Elsewhere in the country, the amount of rain is expected to be much the same as in previous years, although Jazan and parts of Najran region are set to have a drier than normal September, the NCM said.

In terms of heat, the center said almost all regions were expected to be hotter than normal over the coming months, with the Riyadh and Najran regions seeing an increase of 2 degrees Celsius and other regions about 1.5 degrees.

In its forecast for Thursday, the NCM said that moderate to torrential thundershowers, accompanied by strong winds, were expected for some parts of the Jazan, Asir, Baha and Makkah regions.

There would also be strong surface winds in parts of Qassim, Riyadh, Hail and Najran regions. These would be southwesterly to northwesterly, at speeds of 15-40 kph, it said.