Expect rain, thunder on Friday and Saturday in UAE

Residents are advised to take extra caution this weekend until Monday as the country will be experiencing unstable weather with rain and some thunder activity.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said it is continuously monitoring the weather system developing in the northern part of the country that will bring weather instability from Friday onwards.

“This extended surface depression and upper air low pressure with a cool air mass from the north will affect the northern and eastern UAE starting Friday,” a forecaster told Gulf News.

“Clouds will develop over these areas, associated with different intensities of rain and some localities will experience some thunder activity, associated with convective clouds.”

The low pressure will further deepen by Saturday and will affect the entire country.

“From Saturday until Monday, the UAE’s weather will be unstable. We will have convective clouds developing in scattered parts of the UAE especially in the north, in the east, along the coast and even in interior parts.”

Coastal areas include Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Forecasters, however, cannot exactly pinpoint where the rain clouds will hit. The interior parts include the central part of the country. To the north lies Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah while the eastern part is Fujairah, some parts of Sharjah, and Al Ain.

The intensities of rain will be different from place to place, he explained.

Visibility will be poor in exposed areas, especially when it’s raining. Dusty conditions are also foreseen due to fresh winds associated with convective clouds.

“We urge motorists to take caution when driving, especially in exposed areas. We also urge residents to avoid heading out to sea as the sea will be rough in general, and avoid going near mountain areas and near wadis where rainwater collects,” he said.

Onshore waves in the Arabian Gulf are expected to reach two feet to four feet on Friday, and five feet to seven feet, reaching nine feet offshore on Friday.

Forecasters also expect temperatures to drop by 3 degree Celsius to 4C by Sunday and Monday due to inclement weather.

The NCM will continue to issue bulletins as the weather pattern develops. It urged residents to check its website (www.ncm.ae) and its official Twitter page for real-time updates.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Gulf News on Thursday December 14th, 2017 http://bit.ly/GulfNewsUAEWeather