Will it rain on Friday? NCM expert explains what to expect over the weekend
By 4pm on Thursday, the sun was out and the clouds had moved away from Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Dubai: Will it rain today? This is the question most UAE residents asked after heavy rains hit the UAE on Thursday, May 2. Gulf News spoke to Dr Habib Ahmed, a senior meteorologist at the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), to find out whether wet weather is expected over the weekend.
“We are not expecting rain in the coastal parts of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman from Friday to Sunday, the skies will be partly cloudy to clear. However, internal parts of the country and areas in the south and east of UAE – including Al Dhafrah, Al Ain, Fujairah, and surrounding areas, may see overcast skies with a chance of light to moderate rainfall,” Dr Habib explained.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms hit Abu Dhabi and Dubai early on Thursday morning. Dubai residents woke up to strong winds, thunder, and lightning at around 3am, earlier than expected in the weather forecast.
According to the Met Office, the unstable weather condition was due to an "extension of surface low pressure from the Red Sea and humid south-easterly winds", which caused rain clouds to migrate from Saudi Arabia towards the UAE.
While the intensity of rain decreased around 4.30am, the weather pattern intensified, again, around 8am, with heavy downpours recorded across the entire country, till about 10am.
By 4pm, on Thursday, the sun was out and the clouds had moved away from the coastal cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, towards Oman, with the NCM downgrading the amber alert to yellow.