The Kingdom of Bahrain today joins the rest of the world in celebration of World Meteorological Day, which is celebrated annually on 23 March in commemoration of the convention that came into force in 1950 and created the World Meteorological Organization. This important day, celebrated today by the Ministry of Transportation’s Civil Aviation Affairs Meteorological Directorate, was first started to highlight the huge contribution that National Meteorological and Hydrological Services make to the safety and well-being of society.

On this occasion, the Acting Undersecretary of Civil Aviation Affairs HE Ahmed Al Nemah stressed the importance of investing in youth and ensuring the provision of career and training opportunities in the meteorology field which is what the Ministry aims for as part of its strategic plan. He further added “The involvement of youth continues to be one or our main priorities and it is our responsibility to encourage them in understanding and making use of the wide meteorological information and services provided.”

His Excellency also noted that the Meteorological Directorate at the Ministry of Transportation is currently implementing a number of projects which include the installation of technologically advanced equipment and systems that assist in monitoring and forecasting weather. Furthermore, a radar that measures wind and temperatures in the atmosphere has recently been acquired. This radar will be instrumental in providing meteorologists with vital information that will assist in enhancing aviation safety in Bahrain’s airspace. Furthermore, upgrades of the climate database system and the installation of three Automatic Weather Observation Systems and one mobile system around the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as the installation of seismic stations that are linked to the main network in United Arab Emirates and will help predict earthquakes are also ongoing projects.