SALALAH: The plains of Salalah received the first proper rains of the monsoon (Khareef) season even as the mountainous villages around the city have been receiving sporadic rains for the last 15 days.
As per the official calendar, the Khareef season starts on June 21 and continues till September 31.
The building up humidity and off and on light drizzling was giving the hint of the arrival of rains at any moment. It started raining in most parts of Salalah at about 5pm.
The rain, however, was not much of enthusiasm among the local people. The COVID-19 has taken away the sheen of the season. Hardly a few people ventured out to feel the rain, which otherwise would have been a big crowd puller, and the Salalah roads would have full of cars all over.
The rain, however, is a big relief from humidity and temperature has also gone down by about two degrees. The temperature here is ranging between 29 and 27 degrees Celsius.
Some feeling of freshness is there but the spirit for the monsoon season is missing. This is the time when Salalah would see large scale footfall of tourists and there would have been large scale inquiry for accommodation from among the tourists.
Under lockdown over COVID-19 fears, Salalah is waiting for a time when the humdrum of the season is back and normalcy is restored everywhere.
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