Rain on and off for 10 days as autumn systems move in

BAGHDAD — Iraq can expect intermittent rain of varying intensity over the next 10 days, with thunderstorms, shifting winds and changing temperatures, as successive autumn weather systems move across the country in the last third of October, the Iraqi Meteorological Organization and Seismology said Tuesday.

The first wave begins Tuesday and will last several days, bringing light to occasionally moderate showers to scattered areas, with possible thunder and lightning and storm downdrafts raising local dust. Rain remains likely on Wednesday and Thursday, though amounts and locations will depend on how the storm clouds develop and move.

Tuesday’s highs are forecast at 36°C in Basra and Dhi Qar, 35°C in Maysan and Muthanna, 34°C in Wasit, 33°C in Najaf and Diwaniyah, 32°C in Karbala and Babil, 31°C in Baghdad, Salah al-Din and Diyala, and 29°C in Anbar. In the north, Erbil and Kirkuk will reach 29°C, Sulaymaniyah and Nineveh 28°C and Duhok 27°C.