Hail in summer: Heavy rain in Sharjah, UAE records close to 50°C
Image Credit: NCM
Dubai: While maximum temperature once again reached close to 50°C on Thursday, heavy rain and hail hit some parts of the country.
Videos and updates posted by the Met office showed heavy showers in Sharjah’s Al Madam area. Hail was also reported in this area.
Videos also showed that rain water led to the creation of small streams in Maliha.
The rains were caused due to the formation of convective clouds in the eastern parts of the UAE.
Also called cumuliform clouds, convective clouds look like stacks of cotton balls and are formed when warm humid air rises through cooler surrounding air in the atmosphere.
The National Centre of Meteorology usually monitors the formation of convective clouds and if they carry enough moisture, the NCM team dispatches cloud seeding flights to maximise rainfall in the country.
Why is there hail in Sharjah when temperatures across the UAE are so high?
An NCM meteorologist explained in a previous Gulf News article: “This is a normal phenomena. When the temperatures are too high, it creates convective clouds and there is a decrease in temperatures in the areas where the clouds are formed. If the convective clouds hold too much moisture, and the droplets are too big, they tend to fall as hail without getting a chance to melt.”
According to the NCM, clouds are expected to form over Al Ain till 8pm tonight.
The Abu Dhabi Police, in a tweet, called on motorists to exerise caution due to the rainy weather and to follow the changing speed limits displayed on electronic information boards.
According to the NCM, the weather on Thursday will be sunny in general to partly cloudy at times.
Low clouds will appear over the Eastern coast by morning, with a probability of some convective clouds formation by afternoon Eastward and Northward.
Humidity will increase by night and Saturday morning over some coastal areas. This will create a probability of fog or mist formation early on Saturday.
Moderate winds are expected to kick up dust at times tomorrow.
