On Monday, UAE residents can expect fair to partly cloudy skies at times, with a chance of convective cloud formation, particularly in the eastern regions. The National Meteorological Centre (NCM) forecasts the chances of isolated rainfall.
Winds will be light to moderate but may freshen at times, causing blowing dust during the daytime. Sea conditions will range from slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf, and slight in the Oman Sea.
The highest temperature recorded in the country on Sunday was 44.8°C in Al Jazeera BG (Al Dhafra Region) at 2.15pm. The maximum temperature likely to reach in Abu Dhabi is 43°C, and 39°C in Dubai. Humidity will hover around 25 to 75 per cent.
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Autumn equinox
However, temperatures in the UAE are set to decrease gradually as autumn draws near. September is expected to be the last month of summer.
Autumn usually begins in the northern hemisphere of Earth, coinciding with the autumnal equinox, when the sun is directly over the equator and moving towards the south. This year, it is set to take place on September 22, 2024, at 4.44pm.
Temperatures will begin to fall below 25°C at night and below 40°C during the day from the date of the autumnal equinox, with the weather gradually becoming milder. Night-time cooling will start when minimum temperatures drop below 20°C at night, from mid-October to mid-April, while daytime cooling will begin when maximum temperatures fall below 30°C during the day, from mid-November to mid-March.
Rains in winter
The winter rainy season will run from early November to the end of March, with around 22 per cent of the total annual rainfall occurring during autumn, mainly in its latter half. Humidity will remain high, leading to the formation of fog and dew in the mornings, particularly from mid-September to mid-November. During this season, autumn fruits such as pomegranates, citrus fruits, and olives are in abundance. The weather is also ideal for planting, farming, transplanting seedlings, and pruning trees, with most winter vegetables being sown during this time.
Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Board Chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society and a member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, stated that following the autumnal equinox, day and night will be of equal length in the UAE, with night gradually becoming longer thereafter at the expense of daylight hours. Meanwhile, the polar regions in the north will begin to experience continuous nights, which will persist until spring.
He added that the early autumn evenings will showcase several notable star constellations, including the’Big Dipper’, and the ‘Great Square of Pegasus’, referred to by Arabs as the ‘Aquarius Square’, will begin to appear in the eastern sky. During autumn, Earth will witness several prominent meteor showers visible to the naked eye under clear skies. The peak of the following meteor showers will occur in autumn: Orionids from October 20 to 22, Leonids from November 16 to 18, and Geminids from December 13 to 15.