On Today's Date: Black Rain Fell In Turkey | Weather.com
Some weird weather phenomena can be traced to a freak event of natural happenstance.
But on Feb. 25, 1991, 34 years ago today, a greasy mix of rain and pollutants from Kuwaiti oil fires was observed in three provinces in southern Turkey. The black rain fell for over 10 hours, darkening hands and staining clothes of those caught outside, the Associated Press reported.
One week earlier, black rain was seen over parts of western Iran.
Smoke from burning oil fires in Kuwait was first detected in visible satellite imagery on Feb. 8, 1991, and peaked from Feb. 22-24, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The smoke was pulled northwestward into southern Turkey by an area of low pressure over the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Containing sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and soot, the smoke sometimes spread through the eastern Arabian Peninsula, including Riyadh and Qatar, leaving a noxious stench and darkened skies.
Just over two weeks after the fighting ended, teams of firefighters arrived and began putting out the fires and capping the oil wells. It would take until Nov. 6 for the final oil well to be capped.
Kuwaiti oil fields burn after retreating Iraqi forces set them on fire on the border of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, March 4, 1991.
(Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
This segment originally appeared in today’s edition of the Morning Brief newsletter. Sign up here to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
