SALALAH, June 26 - Salalah warmly welcomed the dark clouds and first drizzling of the khareef season early on Wednesday morning. Certainly it brought some respite from hot weather Salalah was having for the past few months. The temperature dipped to 28 degrees from this year’s highest 33.8 degrees. Humidity, however, is as high as 88 per cent. The sudden weather change charged up Salalah. One could see sudden flow of cars on all the roads. The drizzling was very light and remained only for a few minutes, but the people here were happy to see the thick clouds, which according to many is strong indication of rains coming in a few days.
The presence of drizzling was so momentary that many people missed it due to being stuck in their offices or homes and it hardly had any relief from humidity, which went up to 88 per cent in the afternoon. The clouds, however, remained most of the day. It worked up all sorts of businesses, particularly those associated with khareef season, to be ready for the season and do the finishing as fast as possible. Sridharan, who owns a roadside coconut shop in Hafa area, was elated to witness the light drizzling. “I am sure this news would spread fast and reach people across the GCC countries. They start preparing for Salalah visit as soon they hear about rain here. This is a reminder for me to clean and decorate my shop so that it is presentable for the visitors.”
Mohammed ba Omar, who lets out his furnished apartment during khareef season, is of the same view. He wants to finish cleaning and fixing of new furniture as soon as possible to ensure good facility for visitors and good review from them for other prospective visitors. Some weather websites are giving hint of light drizzle during night and same kind of weather early morning tomorrow. Gradually the weather is likely to improve and by the time Salalah Tourism Festival (STF) opens on July 11, khareef (monsoon) would be fully settled. Khareef is the time when Salalah turns into lush greenery and its hills are surrounded by white fog. Light rains drizzle to cool the air. During this time, it is frequented by many visitors, especially from within Oman and the neighbouring countries.
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