Stu had planned a small braai for friday. His rationale was twofold, firstly we wanted to invite a new couple, who had only been in Dubai for a few weeks, to give them a break from apartment living, and secondly we figured we would make the most of the last of the “cooler” spring weather. So of course as luck, or murphy probably, would have it Friday was particularly hot and humid. In fact when Stu went to the supermarket in the morning it was already about 35 degrees Celsius. We were feeling rather depressed that it meant that summer was about to begin and that we had several long months of hot weather, followed by indescribable heat in July and August, to look forward to, at least if last year was anything to go by. Happily, according to the Gulf News website today, this weather is in fact unseasonal and not the start of summer.
Dubai: Though the temperature will shoot up this Saturday to 31 degrees Celsius, the pleasant weather will continue through March and the blistering heat of summer is still far away, according to weathermen.
It seems that, at this time of year, Shamal winds blow from the direction of Europe and keep things cool, but over the last few days this has not been the case, and instead the winds are coming from the south-east, probably straight off the desert. This has resulted in some hot days, but the worst part was the dusty conditions on saturday.
Dr S.K. Gupta, Duty Forecaster at Dubai Meteorological Office, said: “It was very windy and dusty across much of the UAE yesterday and we expect more of the same today before conditions settle down tomorrow and on Monday when Shamal winds will move in.
This left my car looking like a mini sand dune. I took the below picture this morning.
One of my colleagues jokingly asked me this morning if I had gone to the beach this weekend, and I replied that there was no need, after all the beach had come to me!
The full Gulf News stories are here and here.