Palm trees swayed by dust winds lash along the Corniche yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula.
Doha: Weather forecast for Qatar valid until 6pm Thursday inshore will be hot daytime with blowing dust to dusty over most areas daytime, offshore will be dusty, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather report.
The Department of Meteorology warned of strong wind at most areas with poor visibility inshore and, strong wind and high sea with poor visibility due to dust offshore.
Wind inshore will be northwesterly 20 to 30 knot, reaching 45 knot at places at times daytime, decreasing by night to 15 to 25 knot, offshore will be northwesterly 25 to 35 knot, reaching 45 knot at places at times.
Visibility will be 4 to 8/2 kilometer or less at places at times. The sea state inshore will be two to four feet, rises to six feet at places at times, offshore will be eight to twelve feet, rises to fifteen feet at places at times.
The northwesterly windy condition (locally called "AlBawarih") is expected to continue until weekend. The weather bureau had predicted that the wind speed could reach up to 45 knots during daytime. As a result, waves are expected to rise to 8 -12 feet and visibility may drop below 2 km at times over most areas due to dust.
"AlBawarih" wind speed weakens and temperatures become mild at night before it regains strength again by sunrise on the next day.
"AlBawarih" is a local term known in the gulf region that refers to northwesterly windy conditions as a result of the extension of the Indian Monsoon along with the presence of a high pressure system over northern Arabian Peninsula.
The onset of AlBawarih winds coincides with the onset of the Monsoon winds and the rainy season in the Indian subcontinent.
AlBawarih in Arabic means the strong wind that raises dust. It's also called the "forty days wind" as it affects the region during the period between first of June until mid-July in a series of waves lasting several days and reaches its peak in the second half of June.
The most important characteristic of "AlBawarih" is that it weakens at night as it gains strength gradually at sun rise and reaches peak during noon time causing rising dust and poor visibility that may drop below 1km at times as well as high waves.
In addition, temperatures rise during daytime exceeding mid-forties in some areas with a decrease in relative humidity.
AlBawarih winds may affect aviation at times as large differences in wind speeds between the surface and 3000 ft height can cause wind shear.
Qatar Meteorology Department urged all residents to be cautious and to avoid going to sea during this period as well as to avoid direct sunlight and to follow latest updates through it's official social media accounts.
