UAE hots up for weekend, dust to clear within hours

Dubai: Temperatures are rising across the UAE, signalling the start of summer, after the rain and hailstorms that hit the UAE earlier this year.

The maximum temperature on Friday in Dubai was a sweltering 37 degrees Celsius, but Sharjah was slightly cooler with a maximum reading of 35°C. The same high temperatures are expected on Saturday.

The UAE was hit by dust haze on Friday morning, although the skies cleared by early afternoon.

Clear skies are also expected all day today and visibility will be good.

"The dust came from the desert - the Empty Quarter - due to southerly winds that have picked up sand and dust," a duty forecaster at the Dubai Meteorological Office said.

Although the winds from the Empty Quarter picked up the sand and dust, high winds were not experienced in the UAE itself.

"Visibility was generally good, but in some areas in Jebel Ali it was down to 3km and Abu Dhabi was 5km. It was worse south of Dubai," she said.

Minimum temperatures for Friday and Saturday will be 25°C in Dubai and 22°C in Sharjah, with maximum humidity of 54 per cent and a minimum of 13 per cent at night.

Southerly winds coming from the Empty Quarter are not Shamal winds - which are north-westerly winds blowing over Iraq and Arabian Gulf states during the summer.

The Shamal winds raise huge duststorms in the open areas and reduce visibility.

The first one of the year usually occurs on about May 25 (and is known as the 'driller', as it drills huge depressions in the desert) while the second usually occurs in June. Temperature readings were not available for Abu Dhabi.

- With inputs from Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter