Mecca the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca. Yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was "an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah." Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor (called "Al-Amin") appointed by the Saudi government. , the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar. Mecca
Climate of Mecca in 1942. Since then, dams have been constructed to ameliorate the problem. Mecca is at an elevation of 277 m above sea level, and approximately 80 km inland from the Red Sea. Flash floods are common during winter season even though the amount of precipitation is low. Since Mecca is located in a desert, dust storms are common in the city. Since Mecca is located in a low-lying region, it is threatened by seasonal flash floods despite the low amount of annual precipitation. There are less than of rainfall during the year, mainly falling in the winter months. Temperatures are