Weather of Arabia: the rain turning the desert green, causing floods and even impacting a rally

More uncommon stories about the climate. Now, at the Arabian Peninsula.

In a sudden and rare scene that appeared clearly on satellite images, green vegetation covered several regions in western Saudi Arabia, which are considered places with a dry desert climate. Several parts of Saudi Arabia have been witnessing precipitation since December 2022, and at a near-continuous pace for unusually long periods compared to previous years.

Floods were reported as well and can be seen in this recent video at YouTube titled "How Is this possible in 2023? Deserts become rivers, floods in Saudi Arabia."

Click at the image below to read the article by ArabiaWeather Inc. and see more recent images from the Terra satellite of the American Space Agency (NASA).

Even the famous Dakar Rally, that is taking place these days in the Arabian Peninsula, had one of its stages reduced due to the extreme conditions, forcing a Dakar route rethink, as one of its bivouacs has become flooded. You can read more about Dakar's 2023 first week here , including quotes about the desert rain.

On the technology and innovation side of the rally, click here to read more about the Dakar Future.

Electric vehicles and hydrogen trucks are competing again, like we reported last year, "Audi RS Q E-TRON: Laboratório de testes para possíveis tecnologias futuras no Rally Dakar" and "GAUSSIN apresenta o primeiro caminhão de corrida a hidrogênio do mundo para o Rally Dakar 2022".