Shafaq News
On Sunday, heavy rain and snow have disrupted travel and raised flood risks across the Kurdistan Region and northern Iraq.
Provinces including Nineveh, Duhok, Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, and Kirkuk have recorded 30–70 mm of rain, with mountain areas receiving up to 100 mm. Snow is accumulating in the highlands, and freezing rain was reported in parts of north and west Nineveh.
The Goma-Span Dam in Erbil province, the third-largest in Kurdistan, has stored more than 10 million cubic meters of water after the latest rainwaves. Zmnako Sami, the dam’s supervisor, told Shafaq News that rainfall over the past three days measured more than 96 mm, raising the dam’s water level by 50 cm.
In Al-Sulaymaniyah province, the meteorological authority recorded rainfall totals ranging from 1.2 mm in Chwarqurna to 100 mm in Mawat, with 70.8 mm in the provincial capital. Other areas saw 63 mm in Ranya, 52 mm in Chamchamal, 49.8 mm in Bazian, and 32.1 mm in Dukan.
Central Iraq, however, has seen lighter rain, ranging from 5–20 mm, while eastern areas such as Diyala, eastern Saladin, and eastern Wasit could reach up to 40 mm. Southern Iraq remains mostly dry, except for eastern Maysan, where rainfall may reach 25 mm.
Kurdish authorities reported eight herders are missing as a powerful snowstorm blankets the mountainous areas.
The herders went to the mountains near Sidakan on Saturday night and have not been heard from since, Karwan Mirawdale, head of Soran Civil Defense, told Shafaq News, noting that the authorities confirmed the identities of seven out of the eight missing.
A separate group of seven climbers also became trapped in the same area, with civil defense teams already dispatched to rescue them.
Iraqi Authorities have also suspended traffic at the Kelii border crossing with Iran due to heavy snow, while rockslides have blocked the Haibat Sultan road in the Koy Sanjaq district of Erbil. Meteorology reports predict that the freezing conditions will spread across Iraq’s northern and western provinces by midweek.