Emirates Meteorology Portal

The same trend is expected to continue for the remainder of August. As odd as it might sound, the summer months are known for spotty afternoon thundershowers over and near the mountains of Oman and the UAE. The last few days brought more afternoon showers to Hajar mountains, and even some interior desert areas of the UAE where confluent winds, extreme heating, and rising air helped break through the otherwise stable atmosphere, resulting in localized and breif afternoon thundershowers. However, such thundershowers pose risk of high winds. You can see below two interesting areas of thunderstorms erupting over Hajar mountains and  [ Read More ]

Hajar mountains over Oman and the UAE play a key role in lifting air upward. Aided with the high levels of surface temperatures, dew points, rising air condenses through lifting by mountains, and with enough lifitng to break through any stable layer of air, the condensed clouds reach an existing unstable layer of air aloft. Only then it continues its vertical ascent, forming afternoon thunderstorms nearby mountains. Such mountainous thunderstorms are a regular event during the summer months in UAE and Oman, yet residents who live in major cities usually don’t know of such weather events. A few afternoon thunderstorms formed along  [ Read More ]

Periods of clouds between July 24 and 28 is possible over parts of the UAE and Oman as cloud from the Arabian Sea drift to eastern Arabia. Some thundershowers might reach parts of Oman . A low-level monsoon low pressure moves to northwest India and northern Arabian Sea. Other areas remain hot and dry with some clouds at some times while mountains of Saudi Arabia and Yemen continue receiving seasonal afternoon thundershowers.

It is July, the heart of summer. Heat levels are incredibly high. Out of the major Gulf cities, Kuwait city is usually the most likely one to hit the 50c mark. In fact, official temperautures recorded were as  high as 50 and 51c on July 14th and 15th, 2011. Yet Kuwait, much of central Saudi Arabia, and other interior areas are less prone to humid air that affect other coastal cities of the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and coastal Saudi Arabia. Even though temperatures rarely hit 50c on coastal UAE, high humidity makes it feel much worse. Luckily, several July days have been quite dry in the  [ Read More ]