Dubai: Rain could fall in the city next week, with meteorology centres predicting wet weather on Monday.
Weather website wunderground.com forecasts the likelihood of precipitation in Dubai on December 1 at up to 40 per cent.
The meteorology site gives a one-in-four chance of rainfall from 11am until 2pm, with a 33 per cent chance of wet weather from 5pm to 8pm.
Sharjah has a 36 per cent chance of rainfall on Monday from 11am to 2pm and a 33 per cent chance from 5pm to 8pm.
Fellow weather site accuweather.com is more conservative with its predictions, offering a 25 per cent chance of rain in Dubai on Monday.
Dubai weathermen, meanwhile, predict that temperatures will continue to fall sharply from an average minimum temperature of 24.1 degrees C in October to a cool 16.3 degrees as December sets in.
The first Shamals usually affect the Gulf between late November and early December, said forecasters, citing historical records.
Shamals are north-westerly wind blowing over Iraq and the Gulf. As December starts, unsettled weather is seen to start reaching the Arabian Peninsula.
Winter rains are common in November in the UAE. In 1997, Dubai airport weathermen recorded 12 rain days in November, with four thunderstorm days -- producing 31 mm.
In November 2004, a severe line squall and thunderstorm brought heavy rain (24 mm) and a hail storm that produced stones of up to 1.5 cm in diameter.
In November last year, the UAE saw the heaviest rainfall since the mid-2000s, in which the cold trough passing over the emirates brought hailstorm and torrential rains.
