UAE | Environment
Summer is too hot for comfort, says Met office
Officials predict winds will provide respite from heat on Sunday as humidity levels push 60 per cent.
- By Mahmood SaberiSenior Reporter
- Published: 00:05 July 17, 2008
- A boy seen cooling off at a shower at the Jumeirah Open Beach as the rising temperatures and humidity make the weather unbearable.
- Image Credit: Devadasan/Gulf News
Dubai: The Comfort Index is hovering at "very unpleasant", but wait till August when the humidity will get even worse, warns the Dubai met office.
There is no respite from the heat over the weekend with humidity levels pushing 60 per cent and only by Sunday will there be a respite when weak north-westerly winds start blowing. It will bring down the temperature to a bearable 41 degrees Celsius.
Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect humidity will have on a person.
Al Minhad Air Base recorded 50 degrees Celsius yesterday with Dubai recording the lowest temperature in the emirates at 44 degrees Celsius, according to Dr S.K. Gupta, duty forecaster.
Jebel Ali, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi were all hotter with the mercury pushing at 45 degrees C. "The heat is nothing unusual for this time of the year," the forecaster said. But he said the fast rate of construction and the growing number of vehicles on the roads are adding to the heat. "Concrete absorbs heat and retains it and emissions from the vehicles, which are increasing by 20 per cent every month are other factors," he said. "There is also very little greenery or vegetation," he said.
So far the highest temperature recorded in July in Dubai was 47.2 Celsius. In Sharjah, it was 49.5 Celsius. Today, there will be thunder activity in the mountain ranges in the east. There is no chance of rain in Fujairah despite drizzles in Salalah in Oman.
Share this article
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
A Selection of the best Gulf News reader pictures this week
