Despite recent precipitation experienced in different parts of the Kingdom in the past few days, high temperatures and forecasts issued over the next few days are reinforcing the severe drought Morocco has been experiencing.
The General Directorate of Meteorology forecasts that a heat wave will be recorded in a number of regions of the Kingdom, with temperatures ranging between 32 and 41 degrees from today, Saturday, until next Monday.
The directorate added, in a warning bulletin of an orange alert level, that temperatures ranging between 36 and 41 degrees are expected to be recorded, from Saturday to Monday, in the communes and provinces of Inezgane, Ait Melloul, Agadir-Idawtnan, Tiznit, Taroudant, Ashoka-Ait Baha, Guelmim, Sidi Ifni, Tantan, Assa-Zak, Boujdour, Laayoune, Smara, Tarfaya, Awsard and Wad al-Dahab.
On Saturday and Sunday, temperatures between 34 and 38 degrees are expected to be recorded in Faqih Ben Saleh, Beni Mellal, Settat, El Jadida, Sidi Bennour, Marrakech, Essaouira, Qalaat El Sraghna, Chichaoua, Azilal, Al Hawz, Rahamna, Asfi and Yousifa.
The bulletin also predicted temperatures between 32 and 35 degrees on Sunday in the provinces of Barchid, Bensliman, Nouasir, Casablanca, Medeona, Mohammedia, Khemisset and Skhirat-Témara, which are high figures for the period we are living in.
However, environment and climate expert Mohammed Benabou explained that the exceptional heat waves that have become repeated every year “are normal because we experienced the same scenario last year during the months of March and April.”
“This year, the weather was more extreme, with records set during January and February,” Benabou told Hespress, noting that this heat was followed by rains that were very important and gradually improved the dams’ reservoirs.
He continued: “What is important is that it will increase the growth of a number of important crops,” which are part of the spring program that started a few days ago.
On the other hand, the same speaker noted that the heat wave could negatively affect citrus trees and early fruits, which are “currently in the flowering period, and therefore will affect production in the coming seasons, whether in the summer or fall, as happened last year, when the production of olives, figs and a range of fall products that could be affected by the heat of March and April.”
In terms of water reserves, Benabou noted that this heat “will evaporate a large amount of water that could reach one million cubic meters per day, especially when it reaches 42 degrees Celsius,” adding that “very high temperatures can cause us to lose a large amount of cubic meters of surface water, especially as we live under conditions of water stress.
For his part, agricultural expert Riad Ouhtita said that the main negative factor of the high temperatures is always “the evaporation of surface water in valleys, dams and streams that have recovered after the recent rains.”
The high temperature makes “the soil unable to retain water, which quickly evaporates with the high temperatures,” he told the newspaper, adding, “We are two months away from the start of the harvest season, and winter has come.”
He noted that this wave of heat comes at a delicate time, noting that “the temperature is moderate so far, and we hope that there will be more rainfall during this month.” He predicted that Morocco will record an acceptable agricultural season and production that is the best in recent years.
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