UAE weather: Icicles caught on video as temperature dips to -2°C

Abu Dhabi - Weather expert explains the cold wave some areas have been seeing; and why it is still warm in the cities.

Screengrabs from vidoes shared by @Storm_centre on Twitter and Instagram‏‏‏‏‏‏‏‏.

Ashwani Kumar

Published: Sat 9 Jan 2021, 2:37 PM

Last updated: Sat 9 Jan 2021, 2:48 PM

Temperature in the UAE dropped below zero degrees Celsuis for the first time this winter season on Saturday, January 9. The Raknah Weather Station in Al Ain recorded minus 2 degrees at 5.15 am on Saturday.

Explaining the sudden dip over the past few days, a weather expert from the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said: “Cold air mass moving from east and northeast is approaching our country, over the desert. (It) reaching Al Ain has led to all stations recording low temperatures.

“The temperature dipped to below zero in Raknah because the area is like a wadi (valley). The air in this area gets cooler than any other. There is cold wind, too. So, Raknah gets colder than any other place.”

Storm Centre UAE tweeted a video showing icicles in the area.

Twitter

Temperature in Raknah had hit 1.9 degrees last week. The weather expert said other areas in Al Ain and mountains have recorded low temperatures mainly because of the topography.

“Other stations (in Al Ain) have recorded low temperatures. Al Foah Weather Station, which is nearest to Raknah, recorded 1.5 to 1.8 degrees. It is the characteristic of this area.”

The UAE’s highest mountain, Jebel Jais, also recorded 1.7 degrees Celsius recently. Mountain areas in the country, in general, are expected to see temperatures of between 2 and 5 degrees.

Snow and hail?

With the dip in temperature, will the UAE see snow and hail like it did in previous seasons?

“The winter season is different every year. The low-pressure system and unstable weather conditions can lead to snow and rain. But we are yet to report any low-pressure system. We are yet to have a forecast for snowfall,” the weather expert said.

He noted that temperature in deserts will drop to a range of between 5 and 10 degrees in the by night.

“We will continue to see cold weather at night and early morning. This will be more in open areas and deserts and not in the cities. The temperature in coastal areas will be higher than desert ones. The desert cools quickly in the night, but this doesn’t happen in the sea.”

Coastal areas are expected to have a temperature in range of 10 to 15 degrees.

The weatherman added that the temperature, generally, will remain stable till Monday night, when there will be a change in the direction of the cold air mass.

Cold conditions forecast

>> Sunday: It will be fair to partly cloudy in general and cold by night and early morning, especially over the internal and mountainous areas.

>> Monday: It will be fair to partly cloudy in general and some low clouds will appear over the sea and islands. Temperatures tend to slightly decrease over western coasts.