The 2020 Middle East storms occurred on 12 March 2020 when the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat was struck by an intense storm system, in the form of a cyclone, that brought heavy rain, thunderstorms, floods and sandstorms to 9 countries in the eastern Mediterranean.[1] The countries that were affected by the storm include Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran and Iraq.[2][3]
Social media users named this storm “The Dragon Storm”, due to its powerful intensity.[2][4] The other reason for this nomenclature was because the air depression on the air maps was shaped somewhat similar to that of a dragon.[1]
This was a rare weather condition with a rain volume of about 950 million m3.[2][5] Some parts registered 263 mm of rainfall over a period of 24 hours.[4] Average wind speeds reached 82 km/h and maximum wind speeds of upto 120 km/h.[2][5]
The worst affected country was Egypt and this was reportedly Egypt’s worst storm in over 40 years.[4] There were confirmed fatalities and about 20,000 people were affected.[4] Significant drop in temperature was noted in parts of Sudan.[6] The heavy winds caused severe shoreline damage, especially at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat, and led to about 20% damage to some of the northernmost coral reefs in the world.[2]
- ^ a b Dragon Storm and Details of the Historical Depression that affected Jordan and the Countries of the Eastern Mediterranean in 2022, Arabiaweather.com, 2020-03-14, retrieved 2023-10-31
- ^ a b c d e Oron, Shai; Akkaynak, Derya; Goodman Tchernov, Beverly N.; Shaked, Yonathan (2023-07-09). "How monster storms shape fringing reefs: Observations from the 2020 Middle East Cyclone". Ecosphere. 14 (7). Bibcode:2023Ecosp..14E4602O. doi:10.1002/ecs2.4602. ISSN 2150-8925. S2CID 259678021.
- ^ "GPM Measures Heavy Rainfall from "The Dragon" Cyclonic Storm System in the Middle East | NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission". gpm.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ a b c d "Violent cyclone hits Middle East, at least 21 dead in Egypt's worst storm in 40 years". The Watchers. 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ a b Madkour, Khaled Mohamed (2022), Leal Filho, Walter; Manolas, Evangelos (eds.), "The Frequency of Rare Cyclones in the Eastern Mediterranean and Northeastern Africa as a Sign of Climate Change Using Satellite Imagery, Climate Data Models and GIS-Based Analysis", Climate Change in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Region, Climate Change Management, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 45–83, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-78566-6_3, ISBN 978-3-030-78566-6, S2CID 245647915, retrieved 2023-10-31
- ^ "Major storm to sweep through parts of Middle East". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-10-31.