Yemen is experiencing a severe drought, which necessitated the holding of a prayer for rain.

Arab Weather - The Republic of Yemen is experiencing a marked drought this year, due to the lack of rainfall during the spring season, which is one of the two main rainfall seasons in the country. This has necessitated the holding of the Istisqa prayer in a number of Yemeni governorates, in compliance with the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

There are two rainy seasons in Yemen: the first is spring, and the other is summer.

Rainfall in Yemen typically falls during two main seasons: the first during spring (March-April), and the second in summer (July-August), which is a wetter season than spring. The amount of rainfall in Yemen varies widely spatially. The highest annual rainfall is in the southwestern highlands, such as in the regions of Ibb, Taiz, Ad Dali', and Yarim, where rainfall ranges between 600-1,500 mm annually. The amount of rainfall is lower in the western coastal plain, such as in Al Hudaydah and Al Mokha, despite being exposed to the southwest monsoon winds coming from the Indian Ocean crossing the Red Sea, due to the lack of a lifting factor for these moist winds. However, the average annual rainfall increases with altitude, from 50 mm on the coast to about 1,000 mm on the slopes of the mountains facing the Red Sea.

The situation is no different on the southern and eastern coasts of the country than on the western coasts in terms of the amount of rainfall, which amounts to about 50 mm annually, as in Aden, Al-Fayoush, Al-Koud and Al-Rayyan. This is due to several factors, the most important of which is that the direction of the movement of moist winds runs parallel to the coast without penetrating inland, so their effect is very small, and consequently the rainfall is not of any significant importance.

Negative repercussions on the rainfall and agricultural situation if summer rains do not improve

This year's weak spring rainy season is expected to have negative repercussions on the agricultural sector, particularly on seasonal crops that rely on rainwater. It will also impact the replenishment of groundwater reservoirs, the primary source of water in many regions, if the lack of rainfall during the summer season is not compensated for.

God knows best.