Autumn Weather Sets in As Thunderstorms Rain Down on Lebanon

By Staff, Agencies

Autumn weather has finally arrived, as Lebanon is set to experience heavy thunderstorms and strong winds for the remainder of the week, meteorologists reported Wednesday.

The meteorological department at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri Airport forecast heavy thunderstorms Wednesday with winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour. Snow is expected to fall in areas of altitudes above 2,400 meters. Temperatures in coastal areas will range between 17 degrees and 22 degrees Celsius.

The forecasting department anticipates volatile weather to continue Thursday, with a 70 percent probability of heavy thunderstorms, and temperatures ranging from 17 degrees to 23 degrees in coastal areas.

“Lebanon will be affected in the next two days ... by an air depression accompanied by strong winds of more than 75 km per hour, especially in coastal areas, which may lead to the collapse of billboards, poles, trees, and other things that may pose a risk to public safety,” the Internal Security Forces warned Tuesday night in a statement.

The ISF asked residents to avoid walking during peak wind activity and to avoid movement near collapsing buildings, “especially those that were severely damaged as a result of the Beirut Port explosion.”

Many buildings in Beirut are still being patched up exactly three months after the devastating Aug. 4 explosion damaged half the city, displacing at least 300,000 residents.

The weather is expected to settle Friday, with 40 percent likelihood of rain and a slight rise in temperature.

In the densely populated neighborhood of Tameer Ain al-Hilweh in Sidon, shops and roads were flooded with rain water. The Sidon municipality worked to remove garbage blocking water channels in the area.

Sidon municipality official Abu Wael al-Kabsh told The Daily Star that the sewage had been cleared but said the flooding was due to water pouring in from the nearby Al-Tawari Palestinian refugee camp.