Hot, dusty weather to continue in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi — Most of the Abu Dhabi Emirate witnessed strong winds coupled with dust storms on Thursday night and Friday morning

In the Capital city, strong winds which began on Thursday night continued until 11am, Friday morning. The temperature within the city has been varying between 40 and 45ºC since Thursday.

The highest temperature was recorded at 49.7ºC in Al Hamim near Liwa Desert at the edge of Empty Quarter.

“It is very hot here with strong winds. We cannot go out because of the heat. Even air-conditioners are not functioning properly due to the heat,” said Ghulam Rasool, a Pakistani farmer in Liwa.

Ghulam Jan a resident from Wathbah on the Abu Dhabi-Al Ain Highway, who looks after camels said the situation in unbearable. “Unfortunately we live in tents looking after camels. We have no air-conditioning here. To keep us cool, we soak our bed-sheets in water and cover ourselves. This is our natural air-conditioner. But within minutes the sheets become fully dry,” said Jan.

According to the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), the lowest temperature at 19.4ºC was reported at Jebel Mehber.

The centre also said that dust was blowing at less than 200m over Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Bateen and Al Dafrah.

The centre also reported fresh easterly winds and rough seas in the Arabian Gulf, Sea of Oman and Strait of Hurmoz and warned that fresh winds blowing dust and sand will reduce the horizontal visibility to less than 200m over land areas.

The centre has advised fishermen and sea-farers from venturing out into the sea.

Similar weather conditions may continue for the next two days, the centre added.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com