DESERT STORM WEATHER 17 JANUARY-2 MARCH 1991

File: aabva_10.txt
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Total Pages: 106
DESERT STORM 			20 January 1991

               General Weather. A weakening low-pressure area moved
               southeastward down the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Hormuz.
               Cool, moist low-level air from the northern Persian Gulf moved
               southwest,  west and eventually northwestward behind a weak cold
               Front moving southwest and west over the northeastern half of
               Saudi  Arabia and extreme southwestern Iraq. Mid-level
               disturbances along the subtropical  jet stream resulted In extensive
               middle and high cloudness  over Saudi Arabia and
               southern Iraq. By day's end, another low had crossed Syria toward
               western Iraq.

               Area of interest.  Light rain (and light snow above 6,000 feet)
               began falling in western Syria by early evening.  An extensive area
               of overcast low clouds, about 2,000 feet thick with bases from 100
               to 1,000 feet,  persisted all day in northeastern Saudi Arabia and
               extreme southwestern Iraq. Visibilities ranged from near zero to
               1,500 meters. By day's afternoon, broken low clouds moved into
               northern Iraq Tom the west bases ranged from 1,500 to 2,500
               feet with tops below 5,000 feet Broken layered middle and high
               clouds, with bases at 1O,OOO feet and tops to 3O,OOO, persisted
               from northern Saudi Arabia northeastward into southern Iran.
               Isolated evening thundershowers developed in extreme western
               Saudi Arabia from a strong system crossing Egypt. Figure 3-5
               provides a mid-afternoon overview.

               Area of Intense Interest  At  0000Z, broken low clouds at 1,500
               4,000 feet covered Baghdad and the Tigris-Euphrates river
               valley . These clouds cleared slowly  from the northwest;  by 2100
              only broken middle and high clouds from 10,000 to  30,000 feet
              covered the southern hag of the Valley. The northern had,
              including Badhgad, saw only thin high clouds. Broken clouds were
              layered from 1,500 thorough 25,000 feet over the western slopes of
              the Zagros mountains. Over the southern Zagros, tops reached
              3O,OOO feet. Isolated afternoon and evening thunderstorms
              reached  35,000 feet in the extreme southeast near the Zagros
              Mountain.   After 2100Z, patchy broken low clouds formed again
              over the northern part of the Tigris Valley and the immediate
              Baghdad area; bases were 1,000 to 1,500 feet tops, 3,000 feet.


	Light rain or showers fell over the southern half of the Tigris-
              Euphrates river valley and southwestern Iraq. There were isolated


	
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