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Middle East Climate
Wed May 14, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. The basic climate of the Middle East can be
characterized in two words: hot and dry, although winters are mild with some rain. The
exception is the mountains, where desert turns to steppe in northern Iraq, northern Iran and
eastern Turkey. Winters here can be severe.
The Arabian Peninsula has among the hottest and driest conditions found anywhere in the world.
The hot desert conditions induce a strong seasonal wind pattern in the region, known as the
monsoon. Although we often associate "monsoon" with flooding rains, it comes from an Arabic
word meaning "season."
During the summer, winds blow unabated toward the hot interior of the Arabian Peninsula,
whereas in winter, the winds are in the south and blow off the land. In northern regions,
continental winds usher in cold Siberian air which wrings some rain and snow out of the sky
along the coasts.
Across the Middle East, summer temperatures are usually around 85 F, but often soar above 100.
In Baghdad, the record high is 120 F; in Basra, 124 F, the highest temperatures recorded in
any major Middle Eastern city. In the Saudi desert, however, temperatures over 120 F are
common.
Most storms crossing the Middle East become dust- or sandstorms when strong winds whip the dry
desert surface; as many as 38 occur annually.
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. You can hear this or any of
our shows on the web at www.weathernotebook.org. We are funded by Subaru of America and the
National Science Foundation. Special funding comes from Davis Instruments, makers of the
Vantage Pro wireless weather station.
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