VIDEO: Tornado, thunderstorms spotted in Saudi Arabia’s Hail region

Gulf Today Report

A rare tornado was spotted in Saudi Arabia’s Hail region on Tuesday.

The twister was accompanied with severe thunderstorms with gust winds packing 60 km/h.  

The Saudi National Meteorological Center commented on the circulating video of the weather phenomenon in the Hail region.

The authorities explained that the weather phenomenon witnessed in Hail is rare, and is associated with severe thunderstorms, in which wind speed may exceed 60 km/h.

The officials added that this condition is called meteorologically a "funnel cyclone", noting that it usually occurs on land, while the phenomenon that occurs in the sea is called a "water tower."

Heavy rain has been falling in the vast desert kingdom, impacting pilgrims in the holy city of Makkah.

The Saudi civil defence warned that moderate to heavy rain was expected to continue in several regions.

Authorities in several Gulf countries renewed weather warnings as several days of heavy rain batter the usually arid region.

Gulf countries usually experience mild winters, with the exception of rare and brief episodes of flooding rain between November and January.

Torrential rainfall has hit the UAE, including Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, with officials saying the bad weather was expected to last until Thursday.