The National Center for Meteorology in Saudi Arabia issued an important weather alert for the coming hours, indicating that dust and sandstorms will continue to affect large parts of the Riyadh and Najran regions. According to the report, this weather pattern will persist from Thursday night until 2:00 AM on Friday, urging citizens and residents in these areas to take precautions.
The center explained in its alert that the weather conditions affect specific governorates in the Riyadh region, namely Al-Aflaj, As-Sulayyil, and Wadi Ad-Dawasir, which are open areas quickly affected by strong surface winds. In the Najran region, the alert covers Sharurah governorate and its surrounding areas. These conditions are causing a decrease in horizontal visibility to between 3 and 5 kilometers due to strong winds that are stirring up dust and surface sand.
These warnings come as part of the National Center for Meteorology's ongoing monitoring of weather fluctuations across the Kingdom, particularly in desert and open areas. Dust storms are a common weather phenomenon in the Arabian Peninsula, especially during seasonal transitions or when surface winds are active over dry, loose soil. The geographical nature of these provinces, situated on the fringes of vast deserts like the Empty Quarter, plays a key role in increasing dust density when winds blow.
From a health and traffic perspective, this warning is of paramount importance, as the dust storms directly affect those with respiratory conditions, asthma, and allergies, requiring them to remain indoors as much as possible during the warning period. These conditions also pose a challenge for motorists traveling on highways connecting Riyadh to the southern regions, such as the Wadi Al-Dawasir road, where reduced visibility increases the risk of traffic accidents. Therefore, authorities consistently advise reducing speed, using hazard lights, and avoiding road travel during peak dust storm times unless absolutely necessary, in order to ensure everyone's safety.
