Autumn in Doha a mild affair

The weather in Qatar is now glorious in the evenings. During the day it can still be a little warm for me, but in the evening, we can now sit outside for dinner and enjoy barbeques with friends. This is our version of autumn, a subtle slide from hot to warm.
Elsewhere autumn is a more changeable affair. The weather can quickly yo-yo from hot to cold as the summer and winter seasons battle it out. In Calgary, the temperatures hovered at a pleasant 14C on the 16th of this month, but just one day later, the maximum temperature could only struggle to 1C.
Meanwhile, more than 8,000 kilometres away, the temperature in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar also took rather a dramatic tumble. On October 14, the temperature climbed to 18C, but just two days later it only managed to climb to a maximum temperature of 1C.
It was a similar picture in Eastern Europe, but here the temperature shot up, not down. On Sunday, the temperature in the Serbian capital Belgrade was 14C, but on Monday, it soared to a toasty 22C. My Serbian friend tells stories about how she used to trudge to work through the snow, but the weather would sometimes change whilst she was in the office meaning she would have to return home in brilliant sunshine and she would almost boil alive in the thermal gear she was wearing.
The parts of the world that have huge fluctuations in temperature like this often have what’s known as a ‘continental climate’. These are regions which see the extremes of weather: the blistering heat of the summer, and the bitter cold of winter. In Ulaanbaatar, for example, the daytime average maximum in July is 22C (72F), but the average maximum temperature in January is just -14C (7F).
For a region to have a continental climate and have such extremes of heat and cold, the air is usually very dry. It’s easier to change the temperature of dry air than it is of humid air because to heat dry air you simply need to heat up the air, but if the air is humid, you also have to heat up the water in the air.
Given that the air needs to be dry for the temperature swings to happen, it’s understandable that the parts of the world which have a continental climate have very little influence from the sea. Not only would the sea add moisture to the air, but it would also regulate the temperature in other ways too.
Oceans are transparent masses of swirling water. When the sun shines on the sea, it heats up quite a large layer of water. This is very different to land, which is only heated on its very top surface and therefore the heat is more concentrated. This explains why, when you are at the beach, the sand burns your feet as you run towards the cooler sea.
As the heat is effectively diluted in water, oceans don’t reach the temperature extremes that the land does. Therefore if you live in a city that’s situated on the coast, it’s logical that its weather will be tempered by the mild waters of the sea. This is certainly the case for us here in Doha. Our temperatures are greatly moderated by the waters of the Gulf. Without the water surrounding Qatar, the summers would be even hotter and drier, and the winters would be much cooler.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that to have a continental climate the city has to be a long way from the sea. On our planet, the winds generally blow from the west, which means that most continental climates are found in the east of vast land masses. Western Europe does not have a continental climate, but Eastern Europe does. In fact the continental climate in Eastern Europe stretches right the way across the vast Eurasian landmass from Eastern Europe into northern China and eastern Russia.
The volatile weather of a continental climate is rather different to the conditions in Qatar. This October, the most that Doha’s temperature has changed between one day and the next was 5C (9F), and actually I was surprised it was this much! In Doha, it’s far more usual for the humidity to fluctuate than the temperature.
Generally speaking, it’s better for your health to be in a stable climate, because if you alternate between hot and cold weather then it lowers your immune system and you become susceptible to colds and other illnesses. It also makes it easier to plan your free time, as you can be almost guaranteed benign weather. However, it does lull people into a false sense of security. After all, when it rains in Qatar, it can rain very heavily, but often people don’t think about the need for an alternative, indoor option when they plan an event.
As we head towards the end of the year, the chance of showers increases. If you are planning an outdoor dinner or picnic, then it might be worth keeping an eye on the weather forecast. We might not see the temperatures suddenly drop to freezing like they do in other parts of the world, but a sandstorm or a heavy downpour could still make an unwelcome appearance.