The scientific reasons behind the violent weather that affected Makkah Al-Mukarramah on Tuesday 8-22-2023

Weather of Arabia - The holy capital and its surrounding areas were affected by a violent weather condition on Tuesday, which was accompanied by heavy rains accompanied by thunderbolts and downward winds from thunderclouds, which led to torrential rains and a rise in the water level in the streets in many neighborhoods.

And these violent cumulus clouds formed with the afternoon hours of Tuesday 8-22-2023 over the eastern highlands of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, and gradually moved to the holy capital with the evening hours, and these cumulus clouds were characterized by an abundance of lightning strikes as a result of the intensity of convection and the abundance of air moisture in the most layers of the atmosphere.

The formation of these violent clouds comes as a result of the availability of many weather conditions, most notably:

• Local factors such as high surface temperatures, diurnal heating, and the topography of the Hijaz Mountains (these are the most important lifting mechanisms for the formation of cumulonimbus clouds).

  • These factors allow the expulsion of air to rise from the surface to the level of convection. (strong upwind)

  • And the construction of heavy cumulus clouds in the range of collision of winds with different characteristics (east of the heights of Makkah).

• This coincided with the availability of distinctive upper conditions of humidity and less hot air.

• As a result of the dominance of the eastern regions in the high and middle layers of the atmosphere, the rainy cumulus clouds rushed to the west towards the Holy Capital.