Storm developing in Arabian Sea, unlikely to hit UAE

A tropical storm is expected to develop in the Arabian Sea over the next 48 hours, but it is unlikely to hit the UAE shores, according to a National Centre Meteorology (NCM) alert.

The NCM sent out the storm alert on Saturday as it detected a tropical cyclone formation on Saturday morning southeast of Arabian Sea with wind speeds ranging from 30km/h to 50km/h accompanied with rainy convective clouds.

According to Met officials the cyclone is expected to develop into a tropical storm over Arabian Sea during the next 48 hours and move northwest from the middle of Arabian Sea. It is expected to hit the Omani coasts.

However, the forecast assures that the storm will have no direct influence over the country.

According to NCM, the number of the tropical cyclones that affected the Omani coasts in the past 72 years is less than the total tropical cyclones that formed over the Arabian Sea. As many as 67 such cases have been recorded.

The NCM report noted that in most cases the cyclone weakens and dissipates rapidly once it reaches the coast.

Only few of the cyclones continue towards coasts and some of them dissipated in the Arabian Sea or towards Socotra and Yemen.

The NCM is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates accordingly, said a Met official.

The NCM official urged the public to follow the official reports and avoid rumours.

Weather in the UAE remained fairly stable on Saturday with scattered clouds in the eastern region, while the rest of the country was bright and sunny.

Similar weather pattern is expected over the next two days with temperatures ranging between the highs of 42 and lows of 27 degrees Celsius in the internal and coastal areas, while the mercury in the mountains is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius
The relative humidity is expected to increase during night and early morning over coastal and internal areas, with a chance of fog or mist formation.