Hydrological Assessment of the “Madar 22” Weather Event: Implications for Water Resources Management in Saudi Arabia

Authors

  • Yousry Mattar

    United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Riyadh 11614, Saudi Arabia

    Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Riyadh 12424, Saudi Arabia
  • Ahmed Al Ghamdi

    Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Riyadh 12424, Saudi Arabia
  • Mashary Al Zahrani

    Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Riyadh 12424, Saudi Arabia
  • Raied Alharbi

    Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering,King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v8i3.10575
Received: 12 May 2025 | Revised: 27 June 2025 | Accepted: 10 July 2025 | Published Online: 17 July 2025

Abstract

A rare and intense tropical weather event, named “Madar 22” affected large areas of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf countries during July and August 2022. This study aims to assess the hydrological impacts of the event on both surface and groundwater resources, and its implications for water resources management in the Kingdom. Also, one of the specific objectives of the present study is to estimate both runoff and potential groundwater recharge coefficients during “Madar 22” weather event across all regions of Saudi Arabia. Utilizing rainfall data from the MEWA hydrological network and ArcGIS-based spatial analysis, the event was found to deliver extreme precipitation equivalent to a 10-year return period for a 3-hour storm. The event generated a total rainfall volume of 20.6 billion cubic meters, of which 1.058 billion cubic meters was estimated as surface runoff. This led to the harvesting of 294 million cubic meters in 189 dam reservoirs and recharged an estimated 239 million cubic meters of groundwater, as indicated by water table rises in 65 shallow wells. The present study concluded that the mean precipitation depth recorded in August 2022 is substantially higher than the long-term monthly average, illustrating a clear trend toward intensified late-summer rainfall. The findings of the present study show critical implications for renewable water resource management in arid and semi-arid regions. They emphasize the need to integrate extreme weather events into flood risk assessments, dam operation protocols, and groundwater recharge strategies to enhance national climate resilience.

Keywords:

Extreme Weather; Groundwater Recharge; Flood Risk; Dam Storage; Saudi Arabia

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How to Cite

Mattar, Y., Ghamdi, A. A., Zahrani, M. A., & Alharbi, R. (2025). Hydrological Assessment of the “Madar 22” Weather Event: Implications for Water Resources Management in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Atmospheric Science Research, 8(3), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v8i3.10575

Issue

Vol. 8 , Iss. 3 (July 2025): In Progress

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2025 Yousry Mattar, Ahmed Al Ghamdi, Mashary Al Zahrani, Raied Alharbi

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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