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Yemen: Agrometeorological update - June Issue (Ref: #23) | 01 - 30 June 2022 [EN/AR]

Países
Yemen
Fuentes
FAO
Fecha de publicación

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The drought that persisted since early in the year is coming to an end

  • High likelihood of extreme rainfall events which will potentially trigger widespread floods from 19 – 31 July

  • Dust clouds continued to blanket Yemen throughout June

  • A spike in livestock diseases and mortality was observed through.

METEOROLOGICAL REVIEW

The drought that has persisted in Yemen for the last three months is ending with minimal showers experienced in the month of June except for Taizz and Ibb, where heavy rainfall was reported (Fig. 1A and B). Due to prolonged drought conditions over the past three months, the rainfall recorded in June was insufficient to improve vegetation conditions which remained generally stressed compared to the longterm average (Fig. 2B). The drought stress was also observed in the Agricultural Stress Index (ASI) which is used as an indicator of the likelihood of drought conditions across cropped areas (Fig. 6A – C). Dhamar and Ibb (north-eastern parts) governorates showed the highest stress level due to drought.

High temperatures were still dominant across most parts of the country (Fig. 5A and Table 1) in June, thus exacerbating the impact of drought on agriculture (See Section II). Field weather stations reported the highest temperature in Seiyoun with a high of 45.8°C which was 29 percent higher than the country-level average (35.5°C) and 6.3 percent than the temperature in May (42.0°C). High temperatures were also reported in Al Hudaydah (Al Kaden, 43.0°C), Al Jawf (Al Jouf, 41.7°C), Shabwah (Ataq, 41.4°C), and Aden (40.3°C). On the other hand, Dhamar reported the lowest temperatures with a minimum of 7°C, which is 152 percent lower than the average minimum temperatures in June (Fig. 5B and Table 1).

From 19 – 31 July 2022, enhanced atmospheric moisture from the Arabian Sea is expected to trigger extreme rainfall events, potentially leading to floods across much of the country. Based on the FAO threshold for floods (> 40 mm of rainfall in one instance), widespread flash floods are expected from mid-July to the month across most lowland areas, potentially affecting 42,000 people across the country. Southern parts of Aden are particularly at higher risk of flooding due to the 13 July 2022 4.6 magnitude earthquake near the Gulf of Aden1 . The Meteorological Department, with the support of FAO, calls for mitigation measures and pre-position of flood assistance, especially in lowland areas.