Thunderstorms pelt much of Lebanon with hail

 

Severe thunderstorms struck several parts of Lebanon late Saturday and early Sunday, peppering many areas with large hailstones.

 

The wet weather contributed to traffic accidents in and round Beirut, including an incident involving two cars and a motorcycle in Hamra that caused at least one serious injury. Clear skies returned to many areas on Sunday morning, but more seasonable weather is expected in the coming days.

 

Cloudy and rainy weather, with thunderstorms and a significant drop in temperatures, is to prevail over the next couple of days, the Civil Aviation Department at Beirut”s Rafik Hariri International Airport forecasted on Tuesday.

 

According to the report, cold fronts prevailing over the Mediterranean Basin will only start receding as of the weekend.

 

Until then, northwesterly wind will blow at speeds varying between 10 and 35 kilometers per hour and visibility will be poor in the mountains.
 

Temperatures will vary between 7 and 19 degrees Celsius along the coast, between 9 and 17 degrees in the mountains and between zero and 17 degrees in the Bekaa Valley.

 

According to the forecast, heavy rains are expected for the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, especially in the North.

 

A hailstorm last week had caused hundreds of cluster bombs to explode in the South. Israel dropped around 4 million cluster bombs in the southern region in the last 72 hours of the 2006 war. Around 1 million of the devices remain unexploded, according to the United Nations.