CAIRO: The heat wave that swept over Egypt last Saturday and saw temperatures rise to over 45C will subside on Tuesday night to end completely on Thursday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority told Daily News Egypt. Temperatures are expected to drop to a high of 35C and a low of 23C, the authority said. The country was exposed to winds coming from the North African Sahara Desert, Waheed Seoudi, head of the Authority, said In addition to the high temperature of the wind, it also carried sand from the Western Sahara, he explained, in reference to what appeared to be a sandstorm on Sunday evening. This coincided with the seasonal wind from Indian low-lands, which affects the country's weather and humidity levels, Mohamed El-Kotamy, deputy head of the analysis unit at the Meteorological Authority, said. Seoudi explained that this Indian wind passes over the Arabian Peninsula and water surfaces which causes the humidity. The wind also affects Gulf countries. The heat wave started last Saturday and reached a high of 43C in the north and 47C in the south, according to official reports. Others claimed the temperature was closer to 50C in the north. “People may feel that the temperature is higher than 43C, but it's just a feeling which is different form the real temperature,” El Kotamy said. While El-Kotamy assured that the temperatures will drop starting Tuesday night, he said there is more to come. “It's known that in summer the country will be exposed to more heat waves. We may be expecting ones in July and August.” Such heat waves are not unheard of in Egypt, argued Ali Kotb, spokesperson of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority. He was quoted by official news portal egynews.net as saying that Egypt was exposed to similar heat waves in 1998 and 2001, where the temperature reached 46C.
