Winter in UAE officially to end today: NCM

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Winter in UAE officially to end today: NCM

The country, especially the northern areas, received a refreshing spell of rains over the past few days.

by

Angel Tesorero

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Published: Tue 19 Mar 2019, 4:00 PM

Last updated: Sat 23 Mar 2019, 9:51 AM

Winter will officially end on Thursday (March 21) in the UAE, but don't forget to bring those umbrellas when you go out as intermittent rains are expected from Friday (March 22) till Wednesday (March 27).
The temperature is expected to soar to 35-36°C from the current 26-30°C, a senior weatherman at the National Center of Meteorology (NCM) told Khaleej Times.
Fog is also expected over the weekend and fresh winds will cause blowing sand, resulting in poor horizontal visibility over exposed areas while the sea will be rough to very rough at times in the Arabian Gulf.

Giving weather update for today, the NCM said the days ahead will be partly cloudy to cloudy during most times, with probability of light rainfall.
On Friday, the day will be cloudy during the day time over some areas. Sea will be moderate to rough in the Arabian Gulf.
On Saturday and Sunday, there is a probability of some rainfall. A dip in temperature is expected.
"The rain will be on and off over a period of six days but it is not continuous and it will be in scattered areas," said Dr Ahmed Habib, NCM meteorologist and expert on cloud seeding. "It can be sunny in the morning, then expect mild showers in the afternoon which can become heavy at night in some areas.
"This weather condition is normal. It is the characteristic of this period, when there is a transition from one season to another - the weather can quickly change within the day."
The country, especially the northern areas, received a refreshing spell of rains over the past few days. Dadna, a village in Fujairah, received the highest amount of rain at 51.9mm over a 24-hour period on March 17. The highest recorded amount of rain last month was 16.8mm at Farara.
There will be an increase in the average rainfall by the end of the month as compared to the same month last year. The UAE has been experiencing rains in the past six months, with last month's average rainfall of 9mm higher than the 5.6mm recorded rainfall in February 2018.
"But last January's rainfall was just 0.2mm and it was less than the 3.88mm recorded in January 2018," Dr Habib noted.
The country, however, has been receiving a boost of around 10-20 per cent rainfall because of cloud seeding. "There were few cloud formations suitable for cloud seeding in January but we are expecting more clouds this month, so we are expecting to have more rain in March as compared to the same period last year," Dr Habib said. "The rains that we received are a combination of natural and 'forced' ones due to cloud seeding. But cloud seeding is not an exact science and not all types of clouds can be seeded. We can only the boost the ones that are ready to generate rain."
Average rainfall in the past months
>October 2018 - 9.7mm
>November 2018 - 8.9mm
>December 2018 - 1.4mm
>January 2019 - 0.2mm
>February 2019 - 9mm
 2018 vs 2019
>January 2018 - 3.8mm
>January 2019 - 0.2
>February 2019 - 9mm
>February 2018 - 5.6mm
angel@khaleejtimes.com
 


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