Light to moderate rain hits parts of country

Mohammed Alaa, Staff Reporter

Different areas of the country witnessed light to moderate rain on Friday. The areas of Ramah Busmar, Al Sad, Al Yahar and Al Salamat in Al Ain city, the Corniche area, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Bateen, Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai, Wadi Al Rahba and Jabal Jais in Ras Al Khaimah witnessed light rain.

Moderate rain hit Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi and Umm Al Sheif in Dubai while heavy rain lashed Al Rams area in Rak.

The lowest temperature recorded by the National Centre for Meteorology (NMC) was 8.2 °C at 6:45am in Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah, while the highest temperature recorded at was 28.4 °C in the Al Tawi area in Abu Dhabi at 2:45 pm.

The NMC expected that Saturday's weather would be cloudy to partly cloudy, with rain lashing some coastal, north and east areas during the day.

Temperatures would go down while humidity will increase during the night and in the morning in some of the interior areas, the NMC indicated.

The winds would be light to moderate, and active on the sea in the morning, and the sea will be turbulent in the morning, becoming moderate at noon in the Arabian Gulf and moderate to turbulent in the Sea of Oman, according to the NMC.

The centre indicated that Sunday’s weather would be dusty and partly cloudy to cloudy, especially in the east and north and in some coastal areas, with a chance of rain and low temperatures, especially on the highlands.

Water could freeze on mountain peaks and frost was likely in some of the interiors.

Winds are expected to blow moderately to active northwesterly while it will be strong on the sea, with a speed ranging between 25 to 35 and up to 55 kilometres.

The sea could be turbulent to very turbulent sometimes in the Arabian Gulf, while strong undercurrents were likely in the Sea of Oman.

Monday’s weather could be partly cloudy in general, and sometimes cloudy especially in the east and north on the sea.

Northwest winds could be strong on the sea at speeds ranging between 25 to 35 up to 55 kilometres.

The sea could be roiling in the Arabian Gulf and moderate in the Sea of Oman.

Recently, the National Centre of Meteorology, NCM, welcomed a delegation comprising several leading international and national experts, researchers, scientists and stakeholders at the Emirates Weather Enhancement Factory.

The delegation attended the 4th International Rain Enhancement Forum, organised by the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science under the NCM’s supervision from 19th-21st January 2020.

The delegation was received by Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of NCM and President of the Regional Association II (Asia) of the World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, along with senior officials from the centre.

The group comprised Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, Permanent Representative of the UAE to IRENA; Dr. Deon Terblanche, Weather and Climate Consultant at World Bank and former Director of Research at the WMO; Prof. Roelof Bruintjes, a senior scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research; Dr. Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Khalifa University, and Dr. Lulin Xue, UAEREP’s third cycle awardee, Chief Scientist at Hua Xin Chuang Zhi Science and Technology LLC and a member of the Beijing Weather Modification Office advisory panel.

It also included Richard Behnke, President at SciencePrime; Dr. Robert Robinson, Chief Scientist at SciencePrime; Prof. Taha Ourada, Professor and Chairman, Canada Research Chair in Statistical Hydro-Climatology at National Institute of Scientific Research; Prof. Steve Siems, Professor at School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University; Dr. Gary Thunen, Chief Scientist and Senior Fellow, Advanced Technology Centre, Lockheed Martin Space; Dr. Mukul Tewari, Research Staff Member at IBM, and Dr. Campbell Watson, Research Staff Member at IBM Research.

During the visit, the delegation learned about the objectives of the-state-of-the-art facility that specialises in the manufacturing of various weather modification products in the UAE, and its plans to conduct innovative research projects in weather modification and rain enhancement.