A Note for Climate Change Deniers

The road between Mecca and Medina last week:

Alexandria Didn't Expect the New Suez Canal Would Go Through Downtown

I'm not certain if this photo is from this week's Alexandria flooding or the previous one, but it's irresistible. The sign reads "The New Suez Canal: Egypt's Gift to the World" and presumably has been there since the opening celebrations this summer.

Alexandria Flooded Again, Much of Egypt's Delta as Well, as Yemen, Oman Get a Cyclone

Ahram Online

Even as the usually arid US states of Arizona and Texas (both rich in climate change deniers), have been underwater much of the week, Egypt's second city of Alexandria has flooded for the second time in recent weeks, sparking the trending Twitter hashtag
اسكندريه_بتغرق# (Alexandria is Drowning). But it's not just the coast; much of the northern Delta is under water, and photos from the inland city of Tanta and even the usually desert Wadi Natrun are facing flooding. And winter hasn't yet begun. Some Egyptian tweets are referencing the Ten Plagues of Moses.

I won't bring up Tropical Cyclone Chapala, which has been hitting Yemen and Oman with hurricane-levels of rainfall exceeding several years worth of the norm.

What's wrong with this picture? (Hint: That's not the coastal monsoon; Hadramaut and Dhofar are getting a decade's worth of rainfall all at once.)

If I didn't have US politicians assuring me climate change is a myth, I might start to get worried.

Red Storm Rising: Blood Red Sandstorm in Benghazi

The photos above, from the Libya's Channel website, shows a Ghibli sandstorm painting Benghazi red. Much of the Middle East has been suffering from high heat and late spring sandstorms, but the deep red of the Libyan storm is particularly striking. The good news is it's temporarily stopped the fighting.

Cairo, too, has been suffering from high temperatures and a  khamsin  blowing, though not as colorful:

And There's a White [Eastern] Christmas in the Forecast for Bethlehem

As Orthodox Christmas Eve celebrations were getting under way in Bethlehem tonight, Israel and the Palestinian Authority were bracing for a winter storm that has already battered Turkey and Lebanon. A white Christmas is pretty rare in Bethlehem, but it appears to be on the way, though most of the religious ceremonies are tonight.

And Speaking of Weather: Floods in Mecca

It's not just Egypt getting wild weather. These photos from Twitter are both said to be in Mecca:

Climate change? What climate change? Isn't Mecca always like this?

Wild Weather Hits Egypt

Now this is a dust storm: 

Aswan yesterday, via Cairoscene. Another:

from space:
Meanwhile, thunderstorms are hitting the north today. Ain Sokhna near Suez:

Rainbow Over Cairo: Not Something You See Every Day

I already mentioned the heavy rains and flooding in Egypt. Now Zeinobia's blog brings us something that's rare indeed: a photo of a double rainbow over Cairo.

Heavy Rains and Flooding in Egypt

Heavy rains in Egypt have taken at least 26 lives, flooded villages, collapsed roofs, and led to evacuations. Part of the airport roof at the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada has collapsed; flooding has been reported from Sinai, and flooding of tunnels and ramps in Cairo has snarled traffic (even more than usual). Separate bus accidents in Asyut and Hurghada took 24 lives and at least two died in a house collapse, though that toll is likely to rise.

Al-Masry Al-Yawm

While rain in winter is not that uncommon the heavy rains in Upper Egypt and Sinai are unusual, and follow a winter that saw snow in the Cairo suburbs for the first time in many years.

For My American Readers This Morning

Something called a "Polar Vortex," which apparently usually hangs out at the North Pole and is just as James-Bond-Villain-sinister as it sounds, has settled over most of the US other than the Southwest and Florida, including deep down into southern Georgia and Alabama. Temperatures are in the negative range (Fahrenheit, not Celsius!) and if half the flights weren't canceled people would be flocking to Alaska just to warm up. Atlanta was colder yesterday than Moscow, and today will be worse.  I thought this picture of The Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia might at least remind you of what warmth looks like:

More from the Snows

Besides the snow shots I ran in my previous post, you'll find a lot more shots from around the region here. They're saying it's the first snow in Cairo in 112 years.

Also, apparently last week, the two chief rabbis of Israel asked the faithful to pray for rain. I guess it worked. Some parts of Jerusalem are alleged to have gotten half a meter.

A camel at St. Catherine's in Sinai; a pious snowman at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:

Snow in Much of Middle East; Even Cairo Suburbs

A winter storm  that has hit the Middle East has disrupted air travel and created major hardships; Syrian refugees in unheated caps in Lebanon have to cope with ice, cold, and snow along with all the other privations. Photographers as usual are coming up with shots of the Western Wall and other familiar scenes (for the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, see my post Wednesday), and of course, a snowman at the Dome of the Rock (left).

Egypt has also been hit by snow,rain, and sleet. Snow in Alexandria or at St. Catherine's in the mountains of Sinai are not that unusual, but snow has even fallen in the outer suburbs of Cairo. Al-Ahram published these photos of Madinaty, a new town on the eastern outskirts of Cairo:

And looming, threatening clouds over some well-known structures:


And then there's this amazing shot from the Internet:

Update: They say the sphinx pic is fake, a photo from a Tokyo outdoor model. But it did snow in Cairo.


During the blizzard of December 2010, everybody commented on how rare it was to see snow in Damascus and Amman and such. Only two years later, in January 2013, those lacking short-term memories wrote again about how rare snow was. That was 11 months ago . . .

Snowfall Snarls Istanbul

A heavy snowfall last night has made a mess of traffic in Istanbul, stopping public transportation, snarling traffic and interfering with air travel.

For those of us not having to cope with the traffic (though most of the US is struggling with winter weather), at least we can enjoy this shot of the Blue Mosque in the snow.

Springtime in Cairo: There's a Khamsin Blowing

Old Cairo hands will recognize the joys of the sandstorm known as the Khamsin, when the desert moves into town and turns everything sand colored. The other side of the Nile is in there somewhere, I think.

Zeinobia has a slideshow up gathered from people's Twitter photos; I'm borrowing these from her site.

UPDATE: Zeinobia says it's forecast to last two more days.

Things Getting Even Worse in Egypt on Eve of Port Said Trial

I know my report on Egypt yesterday was pessimistic. I'm afraid that, other than apparently good turnouts for the International Women's Day marches, there doesn't seem to be any better news today, and quite a bit of worse.

As the country braces for an uncertain Saturday, March 9 being the date of the expected court verdict in the Port Said football massacre, the already rebellious canal city could explode even further; the police there have withdrawn and the Army stepped in, but the Army says it is only there to guard security installations and not provide police functions.

Meanwhile the police strike continues to spread throughout the country, demanding the Interior Minister go, with at least 60 police stations shut down. In Port Said they're forming "local committees" to provide security, and in Asyut the radical Al-Gama‘a al-Islamiyya says it will form a "millitia" to replace the police.  Meanhile the Interior Minister, far from resigning, has responded by firing the Commander of the Central Security Forces.

All this is just today and most of the links are to Ahram Online, which is the state-owned media. For the really bad news you can go to the opposition press, but I think my point is  made.

Wait, did I say there was no good news? Well, at least they probably can't see the plague of locusts today, since Cairo and the coastal regions and Delta are engulfed in a massive sandstorm.

The Snow Story

After heavy rains and extensive flooding, now we have snow across the Levant as well as in parts of Egypt. The media are showing photos of snow in Jerusalem and elsewhere (below, the Western Wall in Jerusalem and Umayyad Mosque in Damascus) and commenting on how rare it is; I've already posted some snow pictures myself, including Bashar making a snowman. But, without wanting to provoke any climate change deniers out there, I just thought I'd point out that this "extremely rare" wave of snows and floods last happened just two years ago, when I blogged about it in December 2010.

It'll Be a Cold Day in Amman ...

Actually, snow is not all that unheard of in Jordan, but with all the heavy rains and floods soaking the Middle East, at least Amman got snow:

To My Political Scientist Readers: The APSA Cancellation

I know many of my readers come from the political science field. Let me commiserate with you on the literally last-minute cancellation of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Conference in New Orleans, which was due to begin tomorrow. None of us can predict the weather, though it is hurricane season.

My own field is history. Interestingly enough, the American Historical Association is holding its annual meeting in New Orleans as well this year. Of course, AHA is doing it in January. I could make a joke about how historians know how to look up when hurricane season is, but that would be taking unfair advantage. Sorry about APSA. And best wishes to all in Isaac's path.

Now We Know Why

Via Souq.com on Facebook, for any of you who are spending the summer in the Gulf, this may explain it:

Khamsin Blowing in Cairo Today

Tahrir Square is Said to Be in There Somewhere

It's April in Egypt, the time of year when the Sahara desert sometimes drops in to the Nile Valley for a visit.The caption — the photo's from Zeinobia's blog — claims the above shows Tahrir Square. I'll have to take their word for it. It's the Khamsin, the sandstorms that blow in spring from the West, and this looks like one of the really bad examples.

Edward William Lane's great Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians says the Khamsin (Arabic for "fifty") can blow from the day after Coptic Easter until Pentecost, hence the name. There are other etymologies, but that one will do. The day after Coptic Easter (Sham al-Nasim) was Monday.

My first year in Egypt we experienced a really bad Khamsin like the one in the photo, exacerbated by the fact that one of my flatmates thought it was stuffy and decided to open the windows. Sand, of course, was everywhere.

At least it should cool down the political heat over the Presidential disqualifications. Who's going to demonstrate in that?