Muscat: Oman’s met office on Monday explained why some wilayats in the Sultanate have been experiencing extreme temperatures for the last couple of days.
A phenomenon called (foehn wind) was reported over the last two days in the Sultanate, causing the temperature to rise above 40 degrees Celsius during midnight in the governorate of Muscat.
This happened when southwest winds blew from Wadi Samail, a mountainous area, to the coastal areas of the Sea of Oman (Muscat Governorate).
The foehn wind happens due to a change from wet and cold conditions on one side of a mountain to warmer and drier conditions on the other (leeward) side.
It is generated when a moving mass of warm humid air meets a mountain on its path. By inertia, the mass of air moves against the mountain and the air is forced to rise along the sides of the mountain. As it rises, the air cools and expands, thus becoming saturated with water vapour.
Meanwhile, met predicted mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate on Monday with chances of clouds formation over al Hajar Mountains towards the afternoon. Dust rising is expected over the desert and open areas. Chances of late night to early morning low-level clouds or fog along with parts of the coasts of the Arabian Sea and Oman Sea.
On Sunday, Fahud recorded the highest temperature of 47.9 degrees Celsius and Dhalkut recorded the lowest temperature of 20.8 degrees Celsius.
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