Dubai: We have roughly 10 days of winter left before the season transitions to spring, characterised by fluctuating conditions, including a gradual rise in temperature, haze, dust and rainfall in some parts of the country, a meteorologist said.
Residents may well take advantage of the outdoors during the remainder of their favourite season in the UAE, before bidding it farewell as spring arrives by the end of this month.
“Nowadays, we are still in the winter season. The beginning of the first transitional period mostly starts during end March or the beginning of April until the end of May. This transition period, which in the northern hemisphere is called spring, geographically starts on March 21,” Sufian Farah, meteorologist and cloud seeding specialist at the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), told Gulf News.
This transition period will see the diminishing effects of the Siberian High Pressure System, which brings cold dry air to the UAE during winter. This system will move northward as the sun appears to move towards the north during the earth’s revolution.
“This shifting away of the Siberian High Pressure far from the UAE will allow for different surface pressure and upper air pressure to affect the country. This could cause the weather to be variable from time to time very quickly, with some depressions coupled with thundery weather activity at times,” Farah explained.
The transition period may also see some rainfall mostly on the northeastern region from time to time, based on the climatic history recorded by NCM.
“During this period, the highest rainfall according to climatic history was recorded in May 2002 at 205mm,” Farah said.
NCM records show March as the wettest month of the year for the year 1977 to 2018 for Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah with an average rainfall of 22mm to 30mm. As expected, the UAE will also see the mercury start to rise gradually. For the period of 1977 to 2018, the average temperature in Dubai is 23.1C climbing to 27.2C in April and further upward to 31.2C in May.
The fluctuating weather patterns will also lead to more frequent fog formation in the southwestern interior regions of the UAE as the clear skies make way for the desert to cool down at night.
Take caution
Residents with respiratory conditions should take extra caution during this transition period as winds kicking up dust and sand will become more frequent during this period, especially just before summer.
Summer officially starts on June 21.
