Rain could continue till Wednesday, says NCM

Emadeddin Khalil / Mona Al Badawi

Various parts of the country witnessed continuous rainfall with different intensities during the early hours of Sunday. This is because the country is being affected by an extension of surface low pressure, associated with an upper air trough northwest. It led to formation of low and medium clouds, interspersed with rainy cumulus clouds that towered over scattered areas of the country, especially the northern and eastern. The rainfall was also accompanied by lightning and thunder with gusts of active winds.

The rains were medium on Jumeirah in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Dibba Fujairah, and Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi, while was light on Khor Fakkan in Sharjah, and light to medium on Al Ain.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has said that the weather on Monday will be partly cloudy in general, and cloudy at times over some areas with convective clouds associated with rainfall especially northwards and eastwards and some western areas. Moderate southeasterly to northeasterly winds, freshening at times causing blowing dust and sand, with a speed of 20–38, reaching 45km/hr especially with the clouds. Sea will be moderate, becoming rough with clouds activity in the Arabian Gulf and in the Sea of Oman, the NCM added.

It also pointed out that the chances of rainfall would remain likely even after tomorrow, Wednesday, as the weather would be partly cloudy to cloudy.

The Centre appealed to individuals to be careful and exercise caution while driving during the rainfall, as well as with low visibility caused by the active winds. It also advised to stay away from the places of accumulated rainwater and the flow of valleys.

On the other hand, rescuers at the search and rescue department of the Abu Dhabi Police were able to rescue a number of persons stranded by rainwater in two private vehicles.

The team rescued eight women and a child, five of whom were near Al Sheyam School in Umm Ghafa, Al Ain. Those women were unable to leave their place, which turned into an island surrounded by rainwater from all sides and even leaked into their cars. The team, accompanied by an ambulance, immediately managed to help the women get out of their vehicles safely then pulled out the vehicles from the water.

Furthermore, an Emirati woman accompanied by an elderly woman, were rescued after they had been stranded in their vehicle due to rainwater. The vehicle was also pull out of the water.

The people of Umm Ghafa and the eyewitnesses who were present at the site hailed courage and swiftness of the rescuers and their professionalism in dealing with emergency cases.

In the same context, a number of patrols were deployed during the rainfall periods in various areas of Al Ain city in anticipation of traffic accidents and to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the city’s streets.

Separately, Al Ain Municipality has denied what was circulated on social media on the flood of Mubzara Dam, calling on the public to only follow the news through reliable sources.

It further urged the road users to exercise caution during the period of weather fluctuations and not to venture into going to valleys and downhill, especially in the event of surface run-offs. The Municipality also affirmed readiness of the rescue teams to deal with all emergency cases, urging the public in case of any emergency to report it via 993.

Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, Executive Director of the National Centre of Meteorology, NCM, recently participated in the Transition Team Meeting of the World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, in his capacity as the President of Regional Association II, ASIA.

The meeting, which was held in Geneva, aimed to ensure the orderly transition of normative functions of the technical commissions active during the seventeenth financial period of WMO (2016-2019), and effective incorporation of their work and deliverables identified in the Strategic Plan into the new structures.

Furthermore, the meeting assessed and managed the risks associated with such a transition, reviewed preparations for the first joint session of new technical commissions and the Research Board in April 2020 and made key recommendations on the establishment of their subsidiary bodies.