DESERT STORM WEATHER 17 JANUARY-2 MARCH 1991

File: aabva_83.txt
Page: 83
Total Pages: 106
DESERT STORM                                       22 February 1991

General Weather.  High pressure was centered over east-central 
Saudi Arabia.  A cold front extending from a low in the eastern 
Mediterranean spread scattered to broken high clouds across Syria 
and northwestern Iraq.  The system had moved into eastern Syria 
by 1600Z.  A low-pressure system near the Strait of Hormuz 
brought low cloudiness and rain to the southeastern Arabian 
Peninsula.

Area of Interest. Scattered low clouds and scattered to broken
middle clouds with 10,000-foot ceilings covered western Iraq, Syria,
and Jordan after 1600Z; there were isolated ceilings at 4,000 feet.
Scattered rainfall reduced visibilities to about 5 km. Isolated
thunderstorms had 500-foot ceilings and tops to 35,000 feet. A
dense band of smoke aloft extended from the northern Persian Gulf
about 10,000 feet, tops to 18,000 feet.  Low and middle clouds
spread 10,000-foot ceilings over Oman.  Isolated thunderstorms
with tops to 35,000 feet lowered ceilings to 21500 feet. Visibilities
in rainshowers decreased to 5 km.

Area of Intense Interest. Skies were clear to scattered, but
scattered to broken middle and high clouds moved over the
extreme northeast by 1800Z. Ceilings, where present, were 10,000
feet with tops to 15,000 feet.  The middle and high clouds were
nearing Baghdad by 2300Z

Visibilities were unrestricted except for areas affected by smoke,
where they were generally about 6 km.  Pilots reported smoke tops
to about 15,000 feet and inflight visibilities as low as l,000 feet.
Figure 3-40 shows dense smoke over and south of Kuwait.

Winds were light and variable before 1500Z, becoming south
easterly to easterly at 5-10 knots to the east of the front after 
1500Z.  Elsewhere, winds remained light. After sunset, winds were
nearly calm.

High temperatures were 13-18(C; lows, 1-8(C. The lowest
temperatures were in the eastern Nafud Desert.



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