Dusty conditions persist, light rain expected in parts of Doha

Strong winds are expected in offshore areas today along with thundershowers and high seas, the Qatar Met department has said.Inshore areas, which saw windy and dusty conditions yesterday, have no warning in store today though it may rain in the early hours of the day. The country has, over the past few days, experienced thundery rain, winds and dust, and yesterday also marked the beginning of Al Sarayat – the “season of sudden changes”. This period, which will continue until mid-May, is characterised by “weather fluctuations as westerly disturbances continue crossing the Arabian Peninsula, accompanied by warm fronts at first, followed by cold fronts”, according to the Met department. After Sunday’s dramatic spell of lightning and thunder – as well as some rain — dusty and windy weather prevailed across the country for several hours yesterday, resulting in a sharp drop in visibility at a number of places. Visibility had fallen to below 1km in some areas. The Met department re-issued a list of precautions to be followed during dust, prepared in co-ordination with the Ministry of Public Health, while the Ministry of Interior advised motorists exercise due caution while driving in dusty conditions. The situation gradually improved from yesterday evening as the dust subsided, even as light to moderate rain was detected in the north along with a thunder cell near Umm Bab. Data released by the Met department showed that Ruwais recorded the highest rainfall of 8.8mm between Sunday and Monday morning.Today’s detailed forecast says slightly dusty and partly cloudy conditions are expected in inshore areas, and there is a weak chance of light scattered rain in some places at first. Slight dust is also likely offshore along with cloudy conditions, the weather report shows. There is a possibility of scattered rain, which may be thundery in some places in the early hours of the day. The wind speed may go up to 30 knots in offshore areas during thundershowers, with the sea level rising to 10ft.High wind speedWind gusts attained a maximum speed of 53 knots in Doha on Sunday due to downdraft winds associated with thunderstorms, the Met department said in a post on Twitter yesterday. According to climate records, similar levels were attained back in March 1995 (54 knots) and November 1982 (53 knots).