Oman is cooler, say weather watchers

Muscat: Oman is cooler this year than at any time in the past five years, and Muscat’s average temperature over the last five years has dropped by a degree, according to government statistics.
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The capital has recorded average daytime temperatures of 45.8 degrees so far this year, compared to the previous average of 46.9 degrees, while weather monitoring stations Muscat showed minimum temperatures of 27.6 degrees, in comparison to the average of 28.2 degrees. The whole of Oman will enjoy slightly better weather for the rest of 2017, due to the intensification of south-westerly winds, which are known for bringing cooling winds into the Sultanate.
A meteorologist at the meteorology department, said warmer winds which normally blow in from the desert have decreased in intensity, resulting in the drop.
“In Oman, there are mainly two sources from where winds blow into the country,” he told Times of Oman.
“The first is the north-westerly wind which blows in from across the desert and Saudi Arabia, and this wind is normally hot.
“On the other hand, the south-westerly winds bring cool weather to Oman, which is why, even at night, the maximum temperature you might experience in summer is about 30 degrees,” he added.
Corroborating this evidence were the latest statistics released by PACA, which compared the temperatures experienced across the nation in 2017, with the highest regional temperatures recorded over the last five years.
With the exception of Rustaq, which recorded a maximum temperature of 49.2 degrees this year as compared to 48.4 degrees last year, Ibri which was up by a half a degree to show a reading of 49.5 degrees, and Marmul (unchanged at 46.3 degrees), all of PACA’s other seven monitoring centres across the nation recorded decreases in temperature.
“It is normally the Dhofar region that benefits most from these southwesterly winds, which were weaker over the past few years but are much stronger this time,” added the meteorologist. “That is why if you look at the Masirah Islands, for example, we had a high of 47.2 degrees last summer, but this time, it is only 39 degrees.”
The Sultanate’s southern enclave of Salalah recorded daytime temperatures of 45.5 degrees, down from 45.8 degrees, while night time temperatures also remained pretty consistent: a minimum of 26.5 degrees was recorded this year, a slight increase from the average of 25.2 degrees.
In keeping with this tone, Oman’s northern outpost of Dibba in Musandam measured maximums of 48.2 degrees – down from 48.9 degrees – and minimums of 30.3 degrees, about two degrees more than the average of 28.2 degrees.