2016 – hottest year EVER since dinosaurs; Saturday ‘very hot’

drivers urged to be cautious

ABU DHABI 12 August 2017: Saturday (today’s) weather is expected to see high to very high temperatures, and partly cloudy and hazy at times, said the National Centre of Metrology and Seismiology (NCMS).

The number of clouds will increase over some eastern and southern areas, becoming thundery by afternoon with a chance of rainfall, said Wam.

Light to moderate winds are expected in general, freshening at times and causing blowing dust and sand over exposed areas. The relative humidity is likely to increase during the evening and early tomorrow morning over some coastal and internal regions, especially in the west.

Winds will be south-easterly to north-easterly, with a speed of 15 to 30 kilometres per hour (km/ph) and be reaching 40 km/ph at times.

2016 warmest year on record for the globe

WASHINGTON: The 27th annual State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 topped 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping.

The US report found that most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior. Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and a strong El Nino early in the year.

This annual check-up for the planet, led by researchers from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, is based on contributions from more than 450 scientists from nearly 60 countries. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected from land, water and space. It’s published as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

The report noted that greenhouse gases, global surface temperature, average sea surface temperature and global sea level were the highest on record.

Global upper-ocean heat content neared record high.

Arctic sea ice coverage was at or near record low, while tropical cyclones were above-average overall.

NCMS warns of sandy and dusty winds

ABU DHABI: NCMS has warned drivers to exercise caution, reduce speed, and leave enough distance between vehicles due to sandy and dusty winds expected in some parts of the country.

In its statement, the NCMS said that that the weather on Friday is hot to very hot weather in general, partly cloudy and hazy at times. The amount of clouds will increase over some eastern and southern areas, becoming convective at times by afternoon, and may associate with rainfall.

“Light to moderate winds in general, freshening at times, causing blowing dust and sand over the exposed areas. The relative humidity will increase during night and early morning over some coastal and internal areas, especially toward west. Sea will be moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea,” the statement added.

The statement added that on Saturday and Sunday, the conditions are likely to be the same.

By Angel Chan