UAE residents to experience longest day of year

People in the UAE will on Wednesday experience the longest day of the year like other countries in the earth’s northern hemisphere. The phenomenon, called summer solstice, is on June 20 to 21 when the sun rays fall perpendicularly on the earth’s Tropic of Cancer at 23°30’ North latitude. The UAE, located close to the tropic and experts have estimated the day at some 13 hours and 42 minutes long in Dubai. On this day, the winter season starts on the southern hemisphere of the earth. People living in the south of the equator have the shortest day. The sun, however, shows no mercy in the region close to the Tropic of Cancer. The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) expects some towering clouds in the eastern mountainous area by afternoon but things will sizzle in the desert and coastal areas. The weather will be hot in general and hazy at times. The conditions will not be much different on Tuesday in terms of heat and clouds. Wind will be light to moderately rough that could gain speed at times. This could kick up dust and sand in the open areas. The sea is expected to be slight to moderately rough in general with two to four feet high waves offshore. The UAE has been suffering from the severe heat for the last several days and ground level temperature has exceeded beyond 50 degrees Celsius in some internal areas. The official weather forecast always indicates atmospheric temperature that is three to four degree less than the ground level temperature. In the coastal area temperature will on Tuesday be 43 degrees Celcius at its maximum but will fall to 26 degrees Celcius at night. People in the interiors will face the toughest summer time with mercury shooting up to 49 degrees Celcius but it will also fall to 26 degrees Celcius in the night. Humidity could test people’s nerves in the coastal areas by moving up and down between 20 per cent and 95 per cent at times. Wind is expected to blow at the speed of 32 to 38 km/h in the coastal and internal areas.