Saudi National Center for Meteorology Issues 34 Weather Alerts Today: What Your Team Should Do on Yellow, Orange and Red

The National Center for Meteorology is one of the top searches in Saudi Arabia today, Wednesday October 21, 2026. Its automated early warning system shows 34 active alerts, including 4 red alerts for heavy rain in Al-Baha, Makkah and Asir and 12 orange alerts, and today's report expects thunderstorms to continue from Thursday 22 to Monday 26 October. Your business needs two decisions now: write down what your team does at each colour, and make the alert reach your systems automatically instead of one person's phone. If your question is invoicing when the internet drops, we covered it in our rainy-season point-of-sale article.

What the center says today, and about the rest of the season

According to the center's early warning page this morning:

• 34 active alerts across the Kingdom: 4 red, 12 orange and 18 yellow.
• The four red alerts are all heavy rain, on governorates in Al-Baha, Makkah and Asir, including Al-Ardiyat, Rijal Alma and Al-Majardah.
• Alerts are issued per governorate, not just per region, so within the Makkah region alone today, Taif is under an orange alert while Al-Ardiyat is under a red one.

The center's report issued today expects moderate to heavy rain on Jazan, Asir, Al-Baha, Makkah, Madinah, Hail and Qassim from 22 to 26 October, and light to moderate rain on parts of Al-Jouf, the Northern Borders, the Eastern Province and Tabuk. On October 4, the center forecast above-normal rain on most regions in October with a probability of up to 80%, and in November with a probability of up to 75%. Whatever you prepare this week, you will use again before the end of November.

The three colours in operational terms

The center defines each colour in one sentence. Your job is to turn each sentence into an action inside your business. Here is the center's definition, followed by what we suggest as a starting point:

• Yellow: a region may be affected by a weather phenomenon. Your action: alert the branch manager, review tomorrow's field appointments, charge payment terminals and phones, and confirm the data backup is working.
• Orange: a region is affected by a weather phenomenon and caution is required. Your action: postpone non-urgent field visits, adjust delivery promises in the affected governorate, and send customers one clear message.
• Red: a region is affected by severe weather or floods, full caution is required and Civil Defense instructions must be followed. Your action: stop field travel in that governorate, move whoever can to remote work, and follow Civil Defense instructions before any commercial consideration.

The one condition for this table to work is knowing which governorate each branch, site and driver is in. A simple three-column sheet, location, governorate and owner, turns a general alert into a decision about named people.

How the alert reaches your systems, not one person's phone

In most businesses the alert arrives the same way today: an employee sees a news item and forwards it to a WhatsApp group. That works when the employee is paying attention, and fails at 6 in the morning. The center offers three official routes with different levels of automation:

• The Anwaa app: today's report names it, alongside the website and official accounts, as a channel for following alerts. It is the minimum for every branch manager.
• The Saudi Meteorology Platform (MeteoKSA): built for organisations, it provides data up to 10 days ahead with a customisable early warning console, and forecasts for your own locations at a spatial resolution of 1.6 km from the Saudi numerical model. Its channels include a web portal and an API.
• The Direct API Integration service: a real-time flow of meteorological information, including forecasts and early warnings, into the beneficiary's systems. It requires a valid commercial registration, a request form, an official letter and payment of fees through SADAD, and you track the request by email. The page does not state the fee amount, so ask through the unified number 1987 or cr@ncm.gov.sa.

The practical gap between the first and third routes is large: with a direct integration, your delivery or scheduling system can read the alert and reschedule or message customers without waiting for anyone.

If your product displays weather data: mind the licence

Many tech companies miss this. The center issues a licence to publish or utilise meteorological data and information, defined as a document for legal entities carrying out a business or activity related to publishing or exploiting meteorological data. If your app, website or platform shows weather to customers or builds a service on it, check whether it applies to you. What the service page states:

• Issue or renewal time: 5 to 15 working days.
• Licence validity: one year.
• Requirements include: a valid commercial registration and classification certificate, proof of information protection mechanisms including cybersecurity, and a definition of the tool and scope of use in place and time.

Connecting meteorological data to a commercial product is therefore not only a technical decision; it carries a regulatory timeline that belongs in your launch plan.

A one-week plan before the next wave

1. Today: write the three-colour table above on one page, and name who decides at each colour.
2. Tomorrow: map every branch, site and driver to its governorate, and install the Anwaa app for each branch manager.
3. Within 3 days: prepare a ready customer message for each colour, in Arabic and English, so nobody writes under pressure.
4. Within a week: if your field operations are large, ask the center for details of MeteoKSA or the direct integration, and decide whether your volume justifies automation.
5. After every wave: record what stopped and what it cost; that number is what justifies the investment or cancels it.

The Origami view

The official alert exists, it is accurate and it is issued per governorate. In most businesses the weak link is not the data but the distance between the alert and the decision. A business that knows which governorate each branch is in, and has a written colour table, acts within minutes. One without it acts when an angry customer calls.

At Origami we build that link: connecting official alerts to scheduling, delivery and customer service systems, with the data licensing requirements handled from the start. If you want us to assess what fits your size, see our services or contact us.

Conclusion

34 alerts in a single day, and a rainy season expected to run into November. You do not need a complex system to start: a colour table, a branch map by governorate and an owner for each branch. Then decide whether your volume justifies an automated link to the center. If you want to plan with forecasts and not only alerts, read our piece on weather as an operational input.

Sources

• National Center for Meteorology: automated early warning system and the three alert colours
• National Center for Meteorology: thunderstorm continuation report, October 21, 2026 (Arabic)
• National Center for Meteorology: above-normal rain in October and November (Arabic)
• National Center for Meteorology: Saudi Meteorology Platform (MeteoKSA)
• National Center for Meteorology: Direct API Integration service
• National Center for Meteorology: Meteorological Data Publishing or Utilization service