Fog warning for much of country as humidity rises
Fog is expected to engulf large parts of the country this week as humidity rises overnight.
Areas at risk include the road between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi, inland areas – particularly in the south – and parts of the north, the National Centre of Meteorology said.
The warning is in place up to and including New Year’s Day.
“It will start about 2am and last until about 8am or 9am,” said a forecaster at NCM.
Visibility is expected to be particularly bad in the south, where it could be less than 100 metres in places.
“It is important everyone knows visibility could be poor on the road. Everyone should take care,” the forecaster said.
The NCM issued an alert yesterday, warning of fog affecting much of the country, starting in the early hours and lasting until about 9am.
Fog is particularly prevalent in the UAE during the winter months.
About 95 per cent of the fog seen in the UAE is radiation fog, which forms in the early hours as heat absorbed by the Earth’s surface during the day radiates into the air, causing water droplets to form. It dissipates in the heat of the Sun.
Advection fog, which is also seen in the country, forms when warm, moist air passes over a cool surface, creating water vapour.
Fog needs some sort of dust or particles in the air to form, because water vapour condenses around them, which explains why the UAE experiences so much of it.
The country averages 132 days of fog formation a year since records began in 2006, with the largest amount of January fog seen in 2010, when there were 17 days of fog and five days of mist.
Fog is most often seen here between mid-December and the end of March, when it is aided by clear skies and calm conditions.
It can result in extremely dangerous driving conditions, such as in February last year, when a lorry ploughed into a line of traffic in thick fog.
In total, 44 vehicles were involved in the pile-up on the E311 road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The crash occurred at 8am when fog reduced visibility on the road to only a few metres.
In 2011, one person was killed and dozens injured in a pile-up involving 127 vehicles on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi motorway during thick fog.