Saharan Dust Rain Hits Serbia Tonight, Cold Front Thursday
A Mediterranean cyclone brings rain laced with Saharan dust on Wednesday evening, followed by a cold front and a temperature drop on Thursday.
Will tonight’s rain leave marks on your car? According to the forecasts, probably yes. A cyclone over the central Mediterranean brings rain and thunderstorms to Serbia on Wednesday evening, and because of dust particles from the Sahara, meteorologists describe it as Saharan dirty rain.
What is happening tonight?
The cyclone, centered over the Gulf of Genoa, keeps strengthening. Its cloud system had already reached the Adriatic by Wednesday afternoon, and according to the portals Alo and K1info, heavy rain with thunder fell over Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Montenegro and Slovenia. From there it spreads to Serbia during the evening.
It was warm before that. Espreso reports that Valjevo recorded 25 degrees on Wednesday and Belgrade 23, while Sjenica saw 0 in the morning. Toward evening, according to Alo, the temperature drops to around 20 degrees across most of the country.
Espreso adds that the southeast wind is picking up, with occasional storm-force gusts in the Kosava area, and that a noticeable drop in air pressure is expected.
What is left after the dirty rain?
Desert dust particles rise high into the atmosphere and travel across the Mediterranean together with the clouds. Espreso explains that the phenomenon is most visible once the rain stops, mainly on vehicles. The portal Srbija Danas also mentions windows and other surfaces.
In practical terms: anyone who leaves a car outside will see the traces on Thursday morning. According to Espreso, the showers are passing and stop by morning. The same source says a northwest wind on Thursday will clear the Saharan dust from the atmosphere.
How much does the temperature fall on Thursday?
On Thursday a cold front pushes in from the northwest, and the wind turns strong northwesterly. The sources disagree on timing: Alo and Srbija Danas write that the front first reaches the northwest in the morning, while Espreso says it arrives in the afternoon and evening. The northwest gets rain, and the south and southeast get showers with thunder.
The difference from Wednesday is big. Belgrade recorded 23 degrees on Wednesday, and the Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia (RHMZ), whose forecast was refreshed at 11:54, gives these Thursday highs:
- Belgrade: 16 degrees
- Novi Sad: 15 degrees
- Nis: 21 degrees
- Kopaonik: 10 degrees
For Belgrade, Alo gives up to 17, and for the whole country from 14 in the northwest to 22 in the southeast. Anyone who went out without a jacket on Wednesday will need one on Thursday.
What about Friday and the weekend?
Forecasts differ slightly for Friday. Espreso writes about 15 degrees, Alo about sunny weather and 15 to 19, and RHMZ gives highs of 18 in Belgrade and Kraljevo and 17 in Novi Sad and Nis. For Friday morning, RHMZ sees lows of 7 degrees in Belgrade, 5 in Novi Sad, 9 in Nis, 3 on Zlatibor and 1 on Kopaonik. K1info and Srbija Danas announce that it turns warmer again over the weekend.
Warning over low water levels
On Wednesday at 8:51, RHMZ issued a hydrological warning valid until October 25 at 7:51. In the coming days the Danube, the Sava and the Tisa at Titel remain below low navigation levels. Flows of the Kolubara and its tributaries, the Jadar, Toplica, Vlasina, tributaries of the Zapadna and Velika Morava, and the Crni and Beli Timok have come close to the biological minimum. There was no meteorological or agrometeorological warning on Wednesday.
The weekly weather outlook through October 24, which we published earlier, announced warmer weather followed by a cold front. Since then RHMZ has refreshed its forecast, and what is new is that the rain with Saharan dust arrives as early as tonight.
