Emirates Meteorology Blog

Since we have gone through around 40% of this winter which started in December 2009 and lasts till the end of February 2010 (meteorological winter). I have a few points to highlight:

Surface Chart. High Pressure dominates the region

• Precipitation: Late November and December were wetter than normal across many parts of the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. All gulf countries experienced rain this Decemebr including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE. Two areas of exceptional rainfall: 1) Western Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea, especially Jeddah and its surrounding, where floods have wrecked havoc on Jeddah late November with probably more than 100m in less than 24 hours if not less than 12 hours. 2) The UAE between Dec 11 and 13 experienced heavy rain and thunderstorms with more than 100mm of rain accumulation in central UAE, mainly between Abu Dhabi and eastern mountain of the UAE near Al Ain and Oman borders. Around150mm were recorded in Al Foah in the UAE in just 48 hours. Another good thing about December is how frequent those troughs and low pressures were … Continue reading 2009 – 2010 Winter So Far in the UAE and the Gulf »»»

Isn’t time to ride this? I don’t think we will have to wait that long here in the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula.

A message to Mr. Winter and Miss Jet Stream: Please start doing your magic.

Almost certainly, October is generally a calm and dry month, marking the transition between summer and winter with almost no rainfall in the UAE. During a normal October, cold fronts are still far away (somewhere in the Middeteranian), the Indian Monsoon is retreating, and tropical lows in the Arabian Sea could be forming (sometimes). So, the UAE and the Arabian Gulf countries become largely islolated from any notable weather forces. But there have been a few of extreme October months in Arabia long time ago. In fact, October proved to be a month where winter and tropical rain are both possible in the UAE even if our average rainfall is zero. Of course, our average is not based on long-term data.

October 1997:

During exceptionally wet winters, October cold fronts are possible but extremely rare. The last time UAE had an October cold front with measurable rainfall was in 1997, which could be our only measurable winter rainfall in October for the last 20-30 years (with only a trace recorded in 1995 and 2000). And I’m not talking about mountainous afternoon thunderstorms that form regulary during the warm months in the UAE.

October 1997 rainfall

October 1948:

This was a strange October. Apparently … Continue reading October Long Time Ago in Arabia and the UAE »»»