Saudi Arabia has seen record rainfall as storms and floods hit Kingdom.
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) announced that the average rainfall in various regions of Saudi Arabia hit an exceptional record of 31.81mm in April, 2023.
According to MEWA, this is the highest average recorded in 40 years; it is more than three times higher than the average of 9.23mm which it recorded in April 2022.
Rain in Saudi Arabia
MEWA issued a hydrology report for April 2023 to measure rainfall and floodwaters collected in and drawn from the dams.
The report showed that there were 26 rainy days during this month, covering most regions of the Kingdom.
The highest level of rainfall was recorded on April 25, with 137 measurements and the highest rainfall measurement recorded amounted to 79 mm on April 14 in Asir region.
MEWA’s agency and the National Centre of Meteorology had 353 rainfall stations with 2,163 measurements recorded.
The report also showed that the floodwaters collected in 146 existing dams in the Kingdom’s regions during April 2023 amounted to 118m cubic metres, while during April 2022, there were 12.2m cubic metres.
According to the report, the dams in the Asir region had the largest share of collected floodwater, more than 28.5m cubic metres.
The floodwater water collected in Najran Dam, Najran, amounted to 20.59m cubic metres, followed by 14m cubic metres in Baysh Dam, Jazan.
Approximately 57.7m cubic metres were drawn from all dams in Saudi Arabia during April, to help replenish farmers’ wells and preserve the vegetation cover.
The highest amount was from Najran Dam, with 20.44m cubic metres, followed by Baysh Dam, with 4m cubic metres.
Starting this May, MEWA is working on implementing the dams’ operational plan by opening the gates for irrigation purposes, while maintaining the safe limit of water allocated for drinking.
Follow us on
