Record rainfall pummelled the UAE and Oman during last week’s storm, and a brief look back at historic weather data shows just how unusual it was.
The National Centre of Meteorology reported that the daily rainfall total, which reached 142mm in Dubai and an astonishing 254.8mm in parts of Al Ain, was the highest since records began in 1949.
Bringing widespread flooding and destruction of property, the storm dumped a year’s worth of rain in a day. But records also show that weather events with almost equal ferocity have taken place in the past.
Accurate readings of rainfall were previously taken at what was once the Royal Air Force base at Sharjah Airport, dating back to the mid 1930s.
They reveal that December 1944 received a total of 173.5mm of rain, compared to the usual average of 27.9mm for the month.
Overall, between 1934 and 1964, the average total yearly rainfall for the seven emirates was 106.9mm. To put it into perspective, the UK recently experienced one of its wettest winters on record, with 445.8mm of rain in just four months.
The great storm of April 1957
One event stands out as coming close to this week’s weather. The great storm of April 8, 1957, is still remembered for its ferocity, borne out by the records.
That day, 97.3mm of rain is known to have fallen on Sharjah alone, in a year that recorded 340.4mm of rain.
While this week’s storm washed away roads in Al Ain, and inundated shopping malls, the death toll in the UAE was mercifully low.
That was not the case in 1957, when many people lived in palm frond arish or traditional barasti houses and when weather warnings were not available in the absence of radio, television and even telephones.
Susan Hillyard, who lived in Abu Dhabi from 1954 to 1958, was travelling to Dubai with her husband in an oil company dhow, unaware that a storm was about to break. Friends feared the couple had drowned but they survived, passing another dhow near the Creek that had capsized, drowning its seven crew members.
On land, she found widespread destruction, writing later in her memoir: “Outside, where there had been a whole suburb of barastis; there was but one … otherwise the devastation was complete. Not only had the wretched people [lost] their houses but all their belongings too.”
Drought followed by floods
The 1961-1962 period was one of the driest on record, with only 7.8mm of rain. But wet weather returned with a vengeance the following year, when a November storm struck the country.
Abu Dhabi had yet to build the sea defences along the Corniche and the Breakwater, and the low-lying areas of the city were inundated. Large quantities of goods, in those days unloaded on to the beach, were lost.
Dubai was hit hardest. The homes not destroyed were left knee-deep in floodwater. At the new Dubai International Airport, light aircraft and gliders were tossed around like toys.
A report for the Emirates Natural History Group journal Tribulus further analysed data from Sharjah up to 2006 and found that the drought of 2000 to 2003 was the worst in 70 years, with only 9mm of rain in 2001.
By contrast, the years 1995 to 1998 were the wettest four years on record. A remarkable total of 1,023.2mm of rain fell during that period, with 318.9mm alone in 1997. The winter of 1995/96 also received more than 376mm of rain between December and March.
Heavy rains in 1982 flooded parts of Abu Dhabi so extensively that some residents used small boats to leave their homes, while in March 9, 2016, winds of 126 kph were recorded at Al Bateen airport.
Two years later, a combination of high winds and driving rain forced the cancellation of a concert by pop star Dua Lipa.
Deadliest of all are the tropical cyclones emerging from the Indian Ocean. By the time they reach the UAE, their worst force is largely spent, although Cyclone Gonu in 2007 killed ten passengers after a boat sank in Fujairah Port.
Gonu killed about 50 people in Oman, whose coastal regions bear the brunt of cyclones.
There have been dozens over the years, with the UK’s consul general in Muscat writing of a storm in May 1963 that: “Part of the wall surrounding the British Bank of the Middle East, which is built in the main wadi of the town, collapsed under the weight of the floodwater. The inside of the bank was flooded to a depth of 4 feet 6 inches [1,371mm].
“Barasti and stone houses in the path of the floodwater were destroyed and many others destroyed or damaged by the heavy rainfall.”
In Oman, 18 people were killed in this week’s heavy rain, including 12 schoolchildren who drowned when their bus was swept away by floodwaters.
These events are a reminder that the region is a place of weather extremes, a parched and hot desert land that, from time to time, experiences storms and heavy rains. For the future, the impact of climate change means both are more likely to become more extreme.
Heavy rain hits Dubai and Abu Dhabi in April 2024
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
THURSDAY'S FIXTURES
4pm Maratha Arabians v Northern Warriors
6.15pm Deccan Gladiators v Pune Devils
8.30pm Delhi Bulls v Bangla Tigers
Company%20Profile
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ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (captain), Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Rafael Nadal's record at the MWTC
2009 Finalist
2010 Champion
Jan 2011 Champion
Dec 2011 Semi-finalist
Dec 2012 Did not play
Dec 2013 Semi-finalist
2015 Semi-finalist
Jan 2016 Champion
Dec 2016 Champion
2017 Did not play
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company%20profile
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PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
More on Quran memorisation:
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now