JEDDAH — Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), said that Saudi Arabia is experiencing warm winter this year and no zero temperatures were recorded anywhere in the Kingdom. "This year's winter is considered a warm winter compared to previous years, and no minimum temperature was recorded, unlike previous years when it was recorded seven degrees Celsius below zero. So far we have not touched zero degrees Celsius," he said while expecting that there are still chances of cold waves over the coming days. Al-Qahtani said that the chances of rain will continue until next week, and moderate rain is expected across all regions of the Kingdom. He stated that the weather is currently in the last quarter of winter. "The weather is still somewhat warmer and there are no lower temperatures compared to previous years. The lowest temperature recorded in the winter of this year is one degree Celsius in the Qurayyat governorate in the northern Al-Jouf region," he said. Dr. Ziad Al-Juhani, a weather specialist and founding member of the Saudi Climate Society, said that there is a wide belt of rain clouds affecting the Makkah and Al-Baha regions and extending to the regions of Al-Qassim, Riyadh, and the Northern Borders region. Meanwhile, the winter season entered its phase of the scorpion season, the last among the three parts of the winter season. It is one of the transitional seasons in which the weather changes from cold to warm and the onset of heat, and the actual winter season ends with the end of the scorpion season. Abdulaziz Al-Hussaini, weather researcher and founding member of the Climate Nomenclature Committee, said that the Scorpion Season begins on February 10 and lasts 39 days, divided into three stars, and each star has 13 days. "Saturday is the first day of the scorpions, and the scorpions are three stars and each one has 13 days." It is expected that its entry will coincide with a cold wave. Its origin is polar from the second Monday of Shaban 1445 AH, until it ends, and it is a common rainy condition, which is the eighth rainy weather of the 1445 AH season, over parts of the southern and western regions, extending to parts of the central and northern regions, and then the Eastern Province and the Gulf countries. The National Center of Meteorology had previously announced the amounts of rain recorded in a number of Saudi regions from nine in the morning last Friday until nine in the morning Saturday, February 10. The center said that in the Makkah region, 6.1 millimeters of rain were recorded in Al-Kaakiyah in the holy city, while in the Madinah region, the Wadi Al-Faraa station recorded the highest amount of 6.0 millimeters. In Hail, the airport station recorded 1.8 millimeters, and in the Tabuk station, Taima recorded 0.2 millimeters, while in the Qassim region, Prince Naif Airport station topped the list with an amount of 0.6 millimeters. The General Directorate of Civil Defense urged the public to stay indoors and not venture out at the time of heavy rain to ensure their safety.
