Arabian Peninsula to be threatened by dangerous storms midweek

A storm moving across the Arabian Peninsula will threaten to bring damaging thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from late on Tuesday into the middle of the week.

These storms will threaten to bring dangerous lightning, flash flooding and strong wind gusts as they track across the central and eastern Arabian Peninsula. 

“An area of thunderstorms developed across central and southern areas of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday,” said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.

Edwards adds, “Storms then pushed eastward into Bahrain and Qatar a bit later Tuesday night.” Times of rain and thunderstorms will continue in these areas through the day on Wednesday. 

Additional thunderstorms will develop Wednesday afternoon across far southern Saudi Arabia and northern Yemen.

Portions of the UAE will also get locally heavy downpours on Wednesday, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

“These storms will be capable of producing some torrential downpours along with frequent lightning,” Edwards added.

Normally dry rivers and streams can quickly swell with water and can catch people off guard. Given that some of this heavy rain will fall at night makes the situation even more dangerous. 

People are urged never to drive through flooded roadways. It can be difficult to tell how deep the water is and if the roadway is damaged or potentially washed-out entirely. 

In addition to the threats caused by heavy rainfall, gusty winds caused by the storms may cause areas of blowing sand and dust, potentially quickly reducing visibility to dangerously low levels. 

Some of the strongest storms can bring winds strong enough to cause damage to weaker structures as well as cause power outages due to downed trees and power lines. 

Storms are expected to move out of Riyadh by Wednesday afternoon and eastern portions of the Arabian Peninsula later Wednesday night. 

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Report a Typo