Wind, sand and rain hit UAE

Powerful winds which left trees bending down to the ground, and occasional showers finally hit the UAE on Saturday.

With southeasterly winds ravaging the country in the morning, and northwesterly winds coming in by the afternoon, speeds of 28 to 35 kilometres per hour tore through the emirates, with winds in some areas reaching 55 kilometres per hour.

Sharjah’s Buheirah Corniche remians deserted due to the dust storm witnessed in the emirate on Saturday — KT photo by M. Sajjad

The eerie weather provoked warnings from the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) telling motorists and highway users to drive carefully due to the low horizontal visibility caused by the dust blown up by the winds.

“A chance of towering clouds and thundery rain at times, with fresh wind causing blowing dust and sand with poor visibility of less than 1,500 metres inland and rough sea churning waves of up to 2.4 metres,” read the warning statement of NCMS.

Temperature wise, the weather reached a high of 37 degrees Celcius and lows of 13 degrees in mountainous areas, with desert area temperatures reaching just 16 degrees.

Dusty weather in Dubai on Saturday evening. — KT photo by Mukesh Kamal

The bad weather did not affect air traffic in the Capital, the Abu Dhabi Airport representatives reported, saying no flights were delayed due to the strong winds and heavy dust filling the atmosphere.

By late afternoon on Saturday, no traffic incidents were reported by the Abu Dhabi Police either and open air activities such as the Abu Dhabi Heritage Film Festival and Sheraton’s Open Mic went ahead as planned.

Low Low visibility on Shaikh Khalifa motorway in Abu Dhabi. — KT photo by Nissar Hoath

According to NCMS, the same weather pattern will continue today, with hazy and cloudy periods throughout the day, especially in the northern and eastern areas, with the possibility of rain.

The wind will be northwesterly over most areas, moderate to fresh at times, causing blowing dust and sand, in turn reducing the horizontal visibility over some areas, with another decrease in daytime temperature.

The sea will be rough to moderate at night and relative humidity will increase during the night and early morning.

On Monday, April 8, the wind will gradually decrease and the clouds will disperse.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com