Feeling the chill? Winter cooler than other years
If you have felt the need to bundle yourself in a coat or hoodie this winter then you’re not alone, and you’re not imagining it.
The winter has been noticeably colder compared with previous years, particularly in the mornings and evenings, forecasters said yesterday.
But brace yourself, it will not be long until spring sets in and the mercury starts to rise again.
The relatively chilly winter, with temperatures as low as 8°C some nights, is the result of a series of north-westerly weather fronts originating in the Mediterranean – Athens was just 11°C yesterday and Cyprus was deluged with rain.
That has resulted in significantly lower temperatures than in recent years, said a forecaster at the National Centre for Meteorology.
For example, last year on March 13, the temperature hit a high of 32°C, but yesterday it was only 26°C.
“It also made the sea rough, and very rough at times in the Arabian Sea,” the forecaster said, although the cool weather is not expected to last long.
“Usually the third week of March is the beginning of the transition period from winter to summer,” he said. And there is no reason to believe that will be any different this year.
“The temperature will start to rise,” the forecaster said. “The transitional period, which is called spring in other places, starts on March 21 and ends on June 21, when summer starts.”
By the end of March, daytime temperatures are expected to hit 30°C, while the maximum in April is about 37°C. And by May, we could be back in the realms of extreme temperatures, he said.
The first 40°C day of the year usually arrives in late April or May.
“The maximum temperature may exceed 50°C, but that is usually in southern areas,” the forecaster said, referring to the desert regions of the UAE.
But residents have some way to go yet before that happens.
After a brief interlude today, temperatures are expected to reach 30°C on the coast and up to 33°C inland. Unsettled weather will return tomorrow.
“The weather will be hazy and dusty in places. But the main feature will be cloudy to partly cloudy conditions with different intensities of rain over scattered parts of the country. [Temperatures] will decrease by about 2°C tomorrow, so below 30°C,” he said. Another weather system is due to sweep in on Sunday, bringing cloudy skies to the west, which will extend over the rest of the country on Monday.
That system could bring further thunder and rain, which could be heavy in parts, particularly over the north and northeast of the emirates.
The forecaster said March was a month characterised by changeable weather.