Oman recorded 26 per cent more rainfall last year

Muscat: Rainfall received in Oman rose from 74.7 mm in 2017 to 94.3 mm in 2019, reflecting a 26 per cent increase during this period.

According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, the rainfall received in 2019 was also 16.7 per cent higher than it had been in 2018, when the country saw 80.8 mm of rain.

“December came first in terms of the highest amount of rainfall in the Sultanate in 2019, recording 1778.4 mm, while January recorded the lowest amount at about 185.6 mm,” said the NCSI. “Marmul Airport station recorded the highest amount of rainfall in the Sultanate, with 433.6 mm in March 2019.”

Oman saw adverse weather in 2019 that played a part in it receiving so much rainfall. Tropical Cyclone Hikaa made landfall in Oman on September 24 last year, while the first week of November saw the rare phenomenon of back-to-back storms forming in the Arabian Sea, as Tropical Storm Maha was formed just days after the birth of Cyclone Kyarr.

Explaining the increase in rainfall witnessed last year, Humaid Al Badi, a meteorologist from the Directorate General of Meteorology, said, “It depends on many atmospheric factors, both at ground level and in the skies, according to temperature, pressure and winds, as well as the surface temperature of the oceans, which in this case are the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as their activities affect Oman.

“All of this creates clouds and grooves of high pressure in the atmosphere, and also leads to cyclones and tropical situations over the Arabian Sea, the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Gulf,” he added.

Adding to this, Kathryn Hansen of the NASA Earth Observatory said last year, “Of all tropical cyclones that occur around the planet each year, only seven per cent are in the North Indian Ocean. They infrequently brush the Arabian Peninsula, and the region can go years without a storm.

“That said, 2018 brought more storms than usual, with three significant cyclones—Sagar, Mekunu, and Luban—bringing damaging wind and rain to Yemen and Oman,” she added. “Cyclones tend to occur here in spring and autumn.”