Changing tides
For weeks now, the weather has been one of the hottest topics in town. Yasmine El-Rashidi reports
As last week's Eid Al-Adha celebrations began, the stormy weather of the week before seemed to disappear into the blue, giving people even more of a reason to rejoice. The clear skies were a far cry from the unusually bad weather that had hit the country just a week earlier -- a whirlwind of sandstorms, rain, and uncompromising winds that forced major transport routes to a halt. Several people died in the resulting mayhem, and one ship sank.
The wave of unrelenting wind struck the entire region. Mediterranean maritime authorities closed key shipping routes between nations as a result, thus preventing dozens of vessels from passing through vital waterways. In Egypt, the Suez Canal was forced to close. Alarmingly high waves at the canal's entrance at Port Said ended up causing a jam that blocked nearly 30 ships at the northern end of the port.
A Greek cargo ship that had ventured out before conditions got too serious ended up swept in the torrent of violent seas and gale winds, meeting its fate deep in the waters west of Crete. All 17 crew members were declared dead.
Road traffic accidents were reported in Sinai, south of Al-Arish. Six pilgrims heading for the holy Muslim city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj were killed when, as a result of poor visibility, their bus hit a truck. Among the dead were a married couple and their two children, wire services reported. Numerous news agencies also reported that the driver of the bus, which was carrying 39 pilgrims, was also killed, while 14 other passengers were injured.
Forty-two other people were reportedly hurt in road accidents around the country. Drivers were told of the low visibility and potentially hazardous roads via announcements on the radio and warnings from authorities at toll stations on major highways.
Airports were also forced to take precautions. Flights into Cairo Airport were diverted, and airports were also closed in Alexandria and the southern towns of Aswan, Assiut and Abu Simbel. They reopened as the weather began to clear.
The bad weather did not come as a surprise, an official at the National Weather Forecasting Authority told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We issued warnings five days before the storm hit. We could see the movement of this frontal system coming in from the Atlantic and moving through Libya," he explained. "The Libyan gust is a yearly winter occurrence. It's a cold air system that sweeps this way. Cold air moves much faster than warmer currents, and so as it comes through the desert it sweeps up the sand particles and dust and pushes through the cities."
The so-called "unusual" climate, he said, is not as unusual as people think.
"This happens every year," the official told the Weekly. "Perhaps it seems more extreme this year because the air has been colder. Last year this frontal system came through the big cities during the last week or two of the winter season. It has come much earlier this year. We didn't hit the 14-degree mark until much later in the season. The temperatures have already dropped far below that, and the winds have already reached 20--25 knots per hour."
The clearer skies and calmer winds that appeared with the national Eid holiday inspired people to head for the streets and parks to celebrate. "It appears that this weather will remain for the coming week at least," the official told the Weekly. "What can I say," he laughed, "it's a gift from above for the holiday season."
