Vehicles moving on Wakrah highway last night, as dust blanketed the city and other parts of the country yesterday, following strong winds. Pic: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
A heavy sandstorm hit the country yesterday reducing visibility to less than 0.7 metre at some places. However, the turbulent conditions are expected to improve today, according to the weather bureau.
The Meteorology Department recorded one of the strongest storms on Sunday evening with wind gusts reaching 53 knots in Doha due to a downdraft wind associated with thunderstorm. Wind blowing at speeds between 48 to 55 knots is classified as storm. Climate records show that gusts of similar speed were recorded in November 1982. However, the highest wind speed recorded inshore in the country is 54 knots in March 1995.
Yesterday, wind speed ranging between 20 to 27 knots over most areas reduced visibility to between 700m to 4km.
“The dust storm is an extension of the dust band that affected Saudi Arabia over the past few days. The turbulent weather was a perfect example of typical weather fluctuations during the season of sudden changes locally known as Al Sarayat,” Abdullah Mohammed Al Mannai, Acting Director of the Department of Meteorology, Civil Aviation Authority, told The Peninsula.
“Since the conditions are unpredictable, we forecasters refrain from predicting the weather for a longer period. The shift from winter to spring is expected to bring rapid weather changes, strong winds and fluctuations in temperature. This period is known to have quick cloud formations and sudden thunderstorms during evening, accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds,” he added.
“Today, there will be an improvement in the weather conditions and by Wednesday evening we expect to have some cloud formation and light rains. We expect some rains on Thursday and strong winds to return on Friday. However, with the prevailing sudden onset of weather changes, we cannot be sure,” he stressed.
Today, the weather would be slightly dusty and partly cloudy with chances scattered rains, which could also be accompanied by thunder at times. The wind speed could reach up to 18 knots during day.
Temperature in Doha would hover between 21 and 28 degrees Celsius. Messaieed and Al Wakrah would have temperatures between 28 and 19 degrees Celsius and Al Khor between 26 and 19 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, Ruwais received the highest rainfall with 8.8 mm from Sunday to Monday morning, while 6.3mm rainfall was recorded in Al Jumailiyah and 5.6mm in Al Shihaimiyah.
