Hot, dusty weather to persist across Iraq through the weekend

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s General Authority for Meteorology forecast hot to extremely hot weather across the country Thursday, with temperatures rising slightly in central and northern areas and easing in the south.

The weather will stay sunny, with scattered clouds in parts of the Kurdistan Region. Northwesterly winds of 20 to 30 km/h will affect most areas, gusting to 50 km/h in parts of southern Iraq in the afternoon and raising dust and sand, particularly in desert areas and along highways. Visibility will run between eight and 10 kilometers, dropping to four to six kilometers in dusty areas.

Similar conditions are expected over the next four days, with a gradual rise in temperatures beginning early next week.