No offday for students on Monday as 80kmph winds subside

UAE’s National Centre for Meterology and Seismology has warned motorists against speeding as wind speeds could reach 80kilometres per hour.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7 a senior NCMS official refuted rumours about a cyclone, but said “a deep depression” was behind the crazy weather.

Click here to see picture gallery of sandstorm across the Gulf

“There are already some light showers in Ras Al Khaimah and nearby areas. The dusty and stormy weather will continue to prevail the whole day and will only subside by evening,” he said.

The weather conditions have forced at least one school in Dubai to remain closed on Sunday.

JSS International School officials said the school will remain closed for one day. It appears that Monday will be a school day for most children.

“Today the school is closed due to bad weather condition," said the transport head of JSS International School, Al Barsha, Dubai.

Many parents opted to keep their kids at home.

"I did not send my kids to the school today, because it is really bad weather. I don’t want to take a risk," said Amar K, parent of an Indian school in Sharjah.

Schools that were running as normal cut out all outdoor activities for the day. In Sharjah, Delhi Private School all outdoor activities were cancelled.

A teacher at the DPS Sharjah told Emirates 24|7 that the situation is under control but, “All physical education activities and assemblies were cancelled because of the dust storm. Today we are keeping students strictly indoors.”

Cleaners and petrol pump attendants were also having a tough time.

“I am getting lot of customers who want to clean their windshield. It is a free service, but today there were so many customers who asked for this that it is affecting the work schedule at the filling station,” said the attendant at an Emarat petrol pump located on the Emirates Road.

 “Normally I clean my premises in the morning and today I had to clean the floors several times because the dust and sand is flowing freely into our building,” said one cleaner who asked not to be named.

Stating that the weather cannot be termed as a cyclone the NCMS official said, “Cyclone usually occurs when there is a very deep depression, but is also accompanied by severe cloudy weather and rainfall. But here it is just a case of deep depression that was centered over Saudi Arabia accompanied by fresh to strong south westerly wind flow.”

The cause of the storm was a low pressure that developed over parts of Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

“The visibility was very low in several parts of the Kingdom yesterday. However, the low pressure moved to Iran and was replaced by high pressure. This accompanied by north-westerly flow is causing the drop in temperature. The temperature is expected to drop by about five to six degrees today and by another two to three degrees on Monday,” the official said.

He also warned motorists to remain cautious. “We are witnessing wind speeds of upto 80km per hour. In Jebel Ali the recorded visibility had dropped to 500 metres. It could be lower in certain other places.  Cross wind over highways can affect vehicles. Motorists need to drive carefully,” he added.

Meanwhile the sea continues to remain rough. “Waves can reach upto ten feet high,” he said.
 

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