Temperatures soar in the UAE

Temperatures soar in the UAE
By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter Published: May 12, 2008, 13:51

Dubai: It was extremely hot and dry throughout the emirates on Monday, with the mercury going past 44 degrees Celsius in Abu Dhabi and 45 degrees Celsius in Jebel Ali and Minhad Air Base in the desert.

“Summer is here officially,” said the duty forecaster at National Centre for Metereology and Seismology in Abu Dhabi.

In Dubai and Sharjah the temperature was hovering around 44 degrees Celsius and dropped slightly as a north-westerly wind developed.

“The temperature has reached a high this month.” said the duty forecaster in Sharjah. The wind blew up dust reducing visibility to 3000 meters, but not dusty enough to affect flights.

When cool sea breezes mix with the high surface temperatures usually it throws up dust, according to the forecaster.

The sea breeze blowing inland will drop temperatures to 38 degrees Celsius over the weekend making it pleasant in the evenings, said Dr S.K. Gupta, duty forecaster at the Dubai Met Office. The Comfort Index is at 2 as humidity is low between 24 to 30 percent.

It was cloudy over Qatar on Monday with a few spots of rain but the cloud cover was unlikely to head for the UAE.