The barely-powered houses of Lebanon will bake under the strongest heatwave of this summer thus far.
Weather specialist Father Elie Khneisser revealed that between Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st, the Arabian Peninsula will experience a severe and sharp rise in temperatures.
Arriving from the “Empty Quarter” desert, the heatwave will be pushed north toward the countries of the Levant and its effects will be felt in Lebanon most notably on Monday.
Over the course of the wave, Lebanon will endure hot, dry winds and high temperatures that reach up to 42 °C in the Beqaa Valley, 36 °C in coastal regions, 33 °C in the mountains during the day, accompanied by fog formation on the western heights.
While the heatwave will start to abate gradually by Tuesday afternoon, temperatures will remain relatively high for four days in northeastern areas before they finally return to average levels.
But that’s not all.
While, as previously noted, this wave is the severest one of this season, it will not hold its record for long.
As Fr. Khneisser notes, temperatures will surpass those of the aforementioned wave when a more powerful heatwave supported by Libyan and Egyptian desert winds is expected to reach Lebanon later this week.
Lebanon will experience exceptionally high temperatures that are expected to reach up to 44 °C in the Beqaa region; slightly more bearable than 2013-2014’s unforgettable 46 °C.
Unfortunately, the extreme heat will come in a time when Lebanese in many areas are suffering from severe power cuts that often last many hours in the absence of diesel fuel to keep both public and private generators up and running.
