Death toll surpasses 3,000 after devastating earthquake rocks Turkey, Syria. Chevron right

Ashburn, VA

43°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

43°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Climate

Devastating drought prompts the return of an ancient rain ritual

A historic, multi-year drought is ravaging parts of two war-torn countries, leaving millions at risk of losing access to food, water and electricity.

By Adam Douty, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Published Nov 24, 2021 12:08 PM EST | Updated Nov 27, 2021 1:00 PM EST

Copied
Live Coverage For all things weather, 24 hours a day.

Syrian Kurds are reviving a decades-past rain ritual in the northern city of Qamishli as the country deals with record-low rainfall.

As a multi-year drought worsens across war-torn Syria and neighboring Iraq, residents in northeastern Syria revived a decades-old tradition in the hopes of boosting rainfall, which would provide drought relief.

The ancient ritual that has been revived across northern Syria is known as the "Bride of the Rain" and involves a wooden doll being dressed in colorful fabric and paraded through the streets. The doll is sprayed with water while people recite special prayers, according to the AFP.

The "Bride of the Rain" ritual had largely disappeared in recent decades, AFP reported, but the ancient custom has re-emerged as the drought across Syria and Iraq grows and threatens crops, livelihoods and leaving people in the region desperate for rain.

"We had abandoned this tradition a long time ago but we restored it in the past two years… due to severe drought," Farhan Ahmad, who owns farmland in the region, told AFP.

A long-lasting drought across the region intensified during 2020 and 2021 with the amount of rainfall measured across much of the country being well below normal. In addition to the lack of rain, temperatures have been trending above normal during the last few years, which has intensified the drought.

"The total collapse of water and food production for millions of Syrians and Iraqis is imminent,” Carsten Hansen, regional director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a press release back in August. “With hundreds of thousands of Iraqis still displaced and many more still fleeing for their lives in Syria, the unfolding water crisis will soon become an unprecedented catastrophe pushing more into displacement.”

Millions of people in Syria and Iraq are at risk of losing access to water, electricity and food amid rising temperatures, record low water levels due to lack of rainfall and drought, international aid groups warned Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

It is estimated that more than 12 million people in the two countries are in danger of losing access to water, food and electricity.

Water in reservoirs is running out and several hydroelectric dams in northern Syria are in imminent danger of shutting down. The dams supply power to about 3 million people.

In northwestern Syria, the reservoir formed by Al-Duwaysat Dam ran dry this summer for the first time in its 27-year history, according to AFP. About 800 families use the reservoir for irrigation across 370 acres of farmland.

Much of northern Syria received less than half of its normal rainfall in 2020 and 2021 after above-average rainfall fell across the region during 2018 and 2019.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"The Indian Ocean Dipole, which measures temperatures anomalies across the Indian Ocean, was strongly positive in 2019 which brought warmer water into the western Indian Ocean," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist and Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls. "This, in turn, brought more moisture across the region and changed the overall weather pattern to bring some of the heaviest rainfall seen in years."

As much as two-to-three times the region's normal rainfall fell during 2019, which provided temporary relief from the drought. However, conditions have since turned dry once again.

Another factor behind the drier conditions across the region could be attributed to large-scale climate changes.

Winter is typically the wettest time of the year across Syria and Iraq, according to Nicholls. While there will likely be several rounds of rain across the region during the next few months, there are no strong indications that the drought will break anytime soon.

MORE TO SEE:

Whoa! Casual conversation interrupted by potentially deadly hazard
Astronaut spots unbelievable view of the Aurora Borealis
Explorers become 1st ever to reach bottom of mysterious 'Well of Hell'

For the latest weather news, check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Severe Weather

Deadly wildfires continue to rage in Chile

Feb. 6, 2023
Weather Forecasts

Spring to bring more snow chances, AccuWeather experts say

Feb. 3, 2023
Weather News

Old photo inspired park ranger to explore hidden history of Yosemite

Feb. 3, 2023
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Weather News

Death toll surpasses 3,400 after earthquake rocks Turkey, Syria

1 hour ago

Severe Weather

Severe weather, flooding threats loom for Texas to Ohio this week

27 minutes ago

Weather Forecasts

Springlike warmth to steadily unfold across East

6 hours ago

Weather News

Ancient castle used by Romans destroyed in Turkey earthquake

2 hours ago

Astronomy

Halo appears around final full moon of meteorological winter

4 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Topic

Tips to cope with winter weather

Featured Stories

Astronomy

Discovery of exoplanet by JWST was a ‘lucky accident,’ researcher says

5 hours ago

Winter Weather

Arctic blast led to rare weather phenomenon over a Vermont lake

3 hours ago

Live Blog

Ingredients come together for epic winter photo

LATEST ENTRY

Patience leads to epic winter photo

2 days ago

AccuWeather Climate Devastating drought prompts the return of an ancient rain ritual
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2023 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK