Chapala impact: Mercury drops

MUSCAT: Temperatures in Muscat dropped to 24 degree Celsius on Monday, as cyclone Chapala hit the Oman-Yemen coast.

It is likely to get colder. “There will be a steady fall in temperature as winter sets in this month (November),” according to the Directorate General of Meteorology and Air Navigation (DGMAN), which monitors weather conditions in Oman. All through the last week, the minimum temperature hovered around 32 degree Celsius.

Storm effect

Dr Andy Yaw Kwarteng, director, Remote Sensing and GIS Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, said the temperature drops whenever a storm approaches the coasts of Oman. “Today’s (Monday) weather was a lot more windy and comfort- October

10 October

20 able because of the storm,” he said.

While the minimum temperature recorded in Jebel Shams was around 9 degree Celsius during the day, the temperature dropped to 7 degrees Celsius at night.

“It was very cold at night and we were literally shivering at night,” confirmed a resident of Jebel Shams. There will also be October

25 October

31 a drastic drop in night temperatures within the next few days as northwesterly winds start blowing during the winter.

The cold and dry wind generally comes from Iran. “Besides reducing the temperature, these winds also force a rise in the sea level in the cooler months,” an official of DGMAN said.