DOHA: A cold spell is suddenly back just as people thought the winter was over — since as recently as Wednesday the sun had turned quite hot and scorching.
A sudden onset of relatively chilly conditions witnessed early yesterday will likely continue until Wednesday, the Department of Meteorology has said.
The department has cautioned that there will be no reprieve from the dusty weather, which will affect visibility at least today. As a result, visibility would fall in the morning as also later hours to 2km within the city limits and to less than 1km outside.
Motorists have been asked to take extreme precaution particularly in the morning hours. It will be a partly cloudy day today with some chances of light rains. The night will be relatively cold.
According to the Meteorology Department, since Friday there has been a drop of about 8-10 degrees Celsius in the mercury levels. The department said on its website that it has named the sudden, albeit brief cold snap, as ‘Bardul Ajoos’ (the cold of the elderly).
Roughly translated into English, it would mean a cold spell the elderly could bear. The cold snap has been caused by Siberian high pressure associated with northwesterly winds (which are, obviously, moving from the colder regions of Europe).
A routine forecast issued by the department for today, meanwhile, said there would be high winds by afternoon and the sea would be rough due to the windy conditions. Offshore as well there could be scattered rains and the weather would be dusty.
The wind could move inshore at speeds less than eight knots an hour initially, and gradually gather momentum and reach up to 28 to 30 knots an hour by afternoon. Offshore, too, the wind speed is expected to go up to 20 to 30 knots an hour.
The day temperatures forecast today will vary from 22 to 27 degrees Celsius. Abu Samra, on the Qatar-Saudi border, will witness 22 degrees Celsius as the maximum temperature.
In Doha, the maximum temperature forecast is 26 degrees Celsius, while the night will be colder (16 degrees Celsius). The night will be the coldest in Abu Samra today with the temperature forecast at 13 degrees Celsius.
The Peninsula
