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DESERT STORM                                     25 February 1991

General Weather.  As shown in Figure 3-43, an upper-air
disturbance moving northeastward spread stormy weather over the
northern Arabian Peninsula; by 0900Z, most of the region was
covered with clouds. A low-pressure system lingered over
northwestern Saudi Arabia as the high-pressure cell in the
southeast moved eastward. Low pressure moving east from the
northeastern Mediterranean spread clouds southeastward over
northern Iraq

Area of Interest.  Fog reduced visibilities to as low as 1,500
meters from northeastern Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates
coast (and to as low as 500 meters in the Tigris-Euphrates river
valley) before 0400Z and again after 2000Z.  Broken middle and
high multilayered clouds with tops to 30,000 feet spread 9,000-foot
ceilings from the northern Red Sea to the northern Persian Gulf
and along the Iran-Iraq border. Isolated thunderstorms and
rainshowers formed over northwestern Saudi Arabia throughout the
day--see Figure 3-44, Page 3-93. They were most intense and
widespread at about 1600Z northwest of Riyadh, along the
southern Iraq-Iran border, and In extreme western Iraq near the
Jordan border. Some of these storms were dry, creating intense,
localized duststorms that reduced visibilities to well below 1,000
meters. Widespread duststorms are reported inthe northern
Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert between 0900 and 2000Z
with visibilities as low as 4,000 meters. Prevailing winds were as
high as 30 knots in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

Area of Intense Interest. At 0300Z, broken high clouds with
24,000-foot ceilings prevailed over Iraq and Kuwait; but as denser
clouds continued to move in, a solid overcast from 7,000 to 33,000
feet formed throughout southern Iraq and Kuwait After 1300Z,
isolated thunderstorms with tops to 35,000 feet developed in the
area's southern half; skies in the heaviest storms were obscured.
Conditions over southern Iraq and Kuwait improved after 1800Z.
In southwestern Iraq between the Tigris River and the Iranian
border, skies were scattered with Isolated low clouds from 2,000 to
20,000 feet. South of 30( N. skies were broken to overcast with
20,000-foot ceilings; there were also isolated low clouds from
l0,000 to 35,000 feet Elsewhere, skies remained overcast
been 8,000 and 35,000 feet.



3-90

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