Season of wacky weather continues as hailstones hit Sharjah

In a country like Scotland you may expect to see four seasons in one day – but what is the equivalent in the UAE?

After a recent period of unstable weather, including rain, wind, dust, humidity and – of course – the relentless, searing heat, Sharjah experienced something rarely seen in the UAE: hail.

The heavy shower of frozen rain, accompanied by strong winds, hit the suburbs of Sharjah amid almost 50°C heat on Tuesday.

The National Centre of Meteorology posted a video of the summer storm – featuring bemused camels – on its Twitter page.

Forecasters said the heavy shower was caused by a cloud that formed over the mountains in the east of the country, near the Oman border.

“The cloud was very intense. That’s why we had a hail storm,” a forecaster said.

“When the air is moving through the mountains and goes up, it heats up rapidly and when it comes down it creates clouds.”

Hail is formed in clouds high above the ground, where temperatures can be as low as -60°C. And because it takes only about a minute and a half to reach the ground, the frozen water does not have a chance to melt – even if the air temperature closer to the ground is 50°C.

The area of cloud formed in the east near Fujairah and passed over Sharjah, dumping hailstones and rain as it went.

The clouds also acted as a blanket, heating the air below, and causing the temperature to climb as high as 51°C near Margham, to the south of Dubai.

Forecasters say there is a chance of further rain clouds developing over the mountains in the east in the coming days, but they do not expect more hail.

Temperatures are expected to reach 46°C at the coast and up to 49°C inland. Humidity could hit 80 per cent.

Summer in the Middle East can be uncomfortable, but the region does not hold the record for the world’s hottest recorded temperature.

That title belongs to Death Valley in California in the United States, where the temperature reached 56.7°C in 1913 at the appropriately named Furnace Creek.

The highest temperature recorded in the UAE was 52.1°C, in July 2002.