UAE forecasters expect dusty weather to last until at least Sunday
Forecasters in the UAE have issued a nationwide weather alert because of dust and sand that descended over almost the entire country yesterday.
In its outlook for the coming days, the National Centre of Meteorology said more of the same weather is expected this week, with a high probability of blowing dust and sand affecting visibility up until at least Sunday.
Only the far western edge of the Emirates was spared yesterday, and conditions were particularly bad in the western Arabian Gulf and the Far East of the country in the morning.
Yesterday’s warning came one day after a sandstorm blanketed Abu Dhabi and Dubai, reducing visibility to only a few hundred metres.
Air quality was “airpocalypti-cally” bad in Abu Dhabi overnight, according to the Plume app, with an off-the-scale reading of 531, meaning it was extremely hazardous to health.
The app classifies air pollution from low to airpocalypse, which typically represents readings of 251 to 300.
Abu Dhabi Police yesterday urged people to drive carefully in the hazardous conditions.
NCM forecasters said temperatures were to reach 39°C in Abu Dhabi and 37°C Dubai yesterday. It was warmer in the south, with highs of 43°C. In the coming days, temperatures will hover at about 40°C on the coast.
The bad weather appeared to be the tail end of a storm that covered Iraq on Monday.
Images from the EU’s Copernicus satellite showed the weather front had moved south into the Gulf on Tuesday, affecting visibility and air quality. At Doha’s Hamad International Airport, visibility was reportedly down to 1,000 metres or less.
Sandstorms are not unusual in the UAE and most often happen during the summer months, and during the transition from winter to spring when rising temperatures cause strong winds.
Such storms typically contain silica crystals, which can aggravate asthma, as well as viruses, bacteria, dust mites, fungi and even plants. They have even been blamed for spreading meningitis spores across Africa. The storms can also transmit viral infections such as influenza, scientists have said.
The rate of such storms is expected to increase in the future with the effects of climate change, a report published in 2017 found.