Significant storm heading toward Middle East amid Iran war, forecasts show
A significant storm will move through the Middle East this week, where major combat operations are taking place, with impacts expected from Israel to Qatar to Iran, forecasts show.
While storms occasionally move through this region, this storm appears to be quite anomalous, with the chances for widespread flooding rains, haboobs -- or dust storms -- and severe weather, including brief tornadoes.
Rain and thunderstorms will enter Israel and Lebanon during the day on Wednesday. The storms should remain fairly scattered.
But by Thursday, the storm begins to organize as it moves across the region with significant Impacts extending from Syria and further south into the Arabian Peninsula.
Impacts from the peak of the storm will arrive in parts of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran on Thursday and will last into Friday.
The main impacts will be severe thunderstorms, including the risk for tornadoes, hail and damaging winds over 60 mph.
The storms will also bring flash flooding, possibly over 1 inch of rain, in some locations. That could cause urban flooding in places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Dubai typically receives 3.12 inches of rain per year, on average, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Close to an inch or more of rain would be significant.
There is the potential for higher amounts of rain in the region, which could bring isolated, significant impacts.
Additionally, haboobs could roll across the Arabian desert, reducing visibility and bringing along gusty winds.
Some of these weather threats will reach into Iran, where some of the mountainous regions of the country might see some snow.
It will take until Saturday for this entire storm to clear the region.
Military strikes have been taking place in Iran and surrounding regions since Feb. 28, including massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military and government sites and retaliatory strikes by Iran.
