Latest news with #HusseinAl-Qahtani
Daily Tribune
10-06-2025
- Climate
- Daily Tribune
Hajj bids farewell to summer heat for next 25 years
TDT | agencies This year's Hajj not only concluded a sacred spiritual journey for millions but also marked the final chapter of the pilgrimage's long association with searing summer temperatures. According to Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's National Center for Meteorology (NCM), Hajj will not return to the summer season for another 25 years. In the meantime, the next eight pilgrimages will occur in the spring, followed by eight in winter and several more in autumn, as the Islamic lunar calendar gradually shifts the dates earlier each year. 'This natural cycle offers pilgrims a rare opportunity to perform Hajj in much cooler and more comfortable conditions for the foreseeable future,' Al-Qahtani explained. This year, temperatures reached 42°C (108°F) — significantly lower than the dangerous 51.8°C (125°F) recorded in 2024, which severely affected pilgrims, especially those without permits. That year, more than 1.8 million Muslims participated, with quotas distributed by country and assigned through a lottery system.
The Star
09-06-2025
- Climate
- The Star
Haj 1446H marks final summer Haj until 2050s, says Saudi National Centre for Meteorology
Muslim pilgrims perform the symbolic 'stoning of the devil' ritual as part of the pilgrimage in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on June 16, 2024. The next eight Haj seasons will occur during spring. - AFP MINA: Spokesperson for the Saudi National Centre for Meteorology (NCM), Hussein Al-Qahtani stated that this year's Haj season, 1446 AH, marks the end of Haj's association with the summer months. Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that Al-Qahtani noted that the next eight Haj seasons will occur during spring, followed by eight more in winter, then in autumn with gradually rising temperatures, before returning to summer after approximately 25 years. The NCM spokesperson explained that this shift is due to the lunar calendar cycle, which offers pilgrims the opportunity to perform Haj rituals in more moderate weather conditions during the coming years. - Bernama/SPA
Saudi Gazette
08-06-2025
- Climate
- Saudi Gazette
NCM: Next Hajj in spring season and Hajj in summer will occur after 25 years
Saudi Gazette Report MINA— Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the National Center for Meteorology (NCM), stated that this year's Hajj season marks the end of the Hajj season coinciding with the summer months. He noted that the next eight Hajj seasons will occur during spring, followed by eight more in winter, then in autumn with gradually rising temperatures, before returning to summer after approximately 25 years. The NCM spokesperson cited that this shift is due to the lunar calendar cycle, which offers pilgrims the opportunity to perform Hajj rituals in more moderate weather conditions during the coming years.
Gulf Insider
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Insider
NMC: Summer Season To Begin In Saudi Arabia On June 1
The National Center of Meteorology (NMC) stated that Saudi Arabia is now 12 days away from the meteorological start of summer on June 1. This day will mark the beginning of a gradual rise in temperatures across various regions. Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of NMC, said that Jeddah recorded the highest temperature in the Kingdom on Tuesday, reaching 47 degrees Celsius in the shade. This is an early indication of the intensification of summer weather, reflecting a significant increase in temperatures, especially in the western regions of Saudi Arabia. NMC is geared up to mobilize all its modern capabilities and equipment to carry out its work during summer. The center relies on the latest technologies and modern meteorological programs represented by observatories across the Kingdom, including weather radars, satellite images, and the Saudi numerical model, in addition to manned observatories and mobile automatic stations that operate around the clock to achieve the utmost accuracy in the center's forecasts.
AFP
19-05-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Video shows sandstorm in Saudi Arabia, not Israel
"Israel Hit by Massive Desert Storm Amid The Nation's Fire Emergency," says the Indonesian-language caption to the video filmed from inside a vehicle and showing a giant wall of dust. It has racked up more than 83,000 views since being posted on Instagram on May 2, 2025. The post added that the clip was filmed in Israel's southern Negev desert. Image Screenshot of false post, taken on May 7, 2025 The video was also misrepresented on X, Facebook, Threads and TikTok and appeared in other posts written in English, Spanish and French. Powerful sandstorms swept through the Negev April 30 as parts of Israel were also battling wildfires driven by strong winds, Anadolu Agency reported (archived link). Bushfires near Jerusalem prompted widespread evacuations and road closures but were largely brought under control early May, authorities said (archived link). However, the video circulating across various social media platforms was not shot in Israel. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes found it posted on Facebook on March 21, 2025, along with a caption that says the footage was taken in Saudi Arabia (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the clip from March 2025 Turkey-based fact-checking organisation Teyit previously debunked the misrepresented clip and found a structure seen at the end corresponds to a 2023 photo of a mosque in Saudi Arabia's Wadi ad-Dawasir city (archived here and here). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and geotagged photo from Google Maps (R) with corresponding features highlighted by AFP A further search on Google Earth found aerial view of the mosque also corresponds to one shown in the video (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and aerial image from Google Earth (R) with corresponding features highlighted by AFP The spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's National Center of Meteorology, Hussein Al-Qahtani, had also issued a statement in late March on his official X account that a dust storm had hit Wadi ad-Dawasir (archived link). AFP Fact Check has previously debunked several claims with misrepresented videos regarding Israel here and here.
