Bulgaria on Orange Alert over Coming Downpour

Several regions of southern and eastern Bulgaria have been placed under code orange and yellow for potentially dangerous weather Thursday.

Strong pulsating southern winds will bring clouds and significant precipitation, especially in Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Smolyan and Kardzhali regions, which are under code orange.

Due to expected rains, 14 other regions in Bulgaria's center and east have been placed under code yellow by the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology.

The wind gusts will blow with speed up to 20 m/sec in lowlands, and are expected to reach hurricane strength on mountains, where the weather will be dangerous.

While highs for most of the country will not be over 12-14 degrees Centigrade for most parts of the countries, they are expected to reach 20-22 C in some parts.