Khaberni - The area between Riyadh Al-Khabra and Al-Qurayn in the Al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia, witnessed yesterday afternoon, severe weather disturbances accompanied by a heavy thunderstorm cloud, which resulted in violent downdrafts that suddenly hit the area, causing a sharp decrease in horizontal visibility and overturning a number of heavy trucks due to the intensity of the winds accompanying the thunderstorm.
In turn, Dr. Abdullah Al-Misned, former climate professor at Qassim University, confirmed that the downdrafts caused the overturning of some trucks on the Qassim - Medina road, indicating that during the season of cumulus clouds in April, the phenomenon of downdrafts emerges as one of the most dangerous weather surprises.
He added that their speeds could reach 80–120 km/h, and might exceed 150 km/h in severe cases, which is sufficient to uproot tents, overturn caravans, overturn trucks, and uproot signs and any light or unsecured objects.
Al-Misned elucidated that they originate from the descent of cold and heavy air from the heart of the cumulus cloud from heights that may exceed 3–10 km, which plummets towards the ground then violently spreads horizontally in all directions, forming a shocking front of dust and wind, adding that their speed is due to a sudden cooling inside the cloud as a result of the evaporation of rain drops and the melting of hail, which increases air density and accelerates its plummet as an air explosion towards the surface.
He noted that upon reaching the ground, they spread radially and not in one direction, making them sudden and unpredictable. He advised, when seeing a dust front or a dark horizontal cloud advancing quickly with dust or sudden coldness underneath, to immediately clear the camp or caravan, secure belongings, and move away from signs or high and exposed vehicles.
