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Climate services to support development:
the Qatar Meteorological Department
Ahmed Abdullah Mohamed, Director, Qatar Meteorological Department
T
he State of Qatar occupies a peninsula on the western
coast of the Arabian Gulf. The general climate of Qatar is
described as being a hot desert climate of the type BWh,
according to Köppen’s climate classification scheme. Studies of
meteorological data accumulated over a sufficiently long period
in the region demonstrate various aspects of the climate.
The Qatar climate is dry with very little rainfall, mostly confined to
winter and spring. In addition, most of the rainfall is contributed
by thunderstorm activity due to occasional extra-tropical (synoptic
scale) systems approaching the region from the west.
The summer season is characterized by extreme high temperatures
and ‘shamals’ (strong north-westerly winds) with disturbed sea-state
conditions during shamal periods. At times sand and dust storms are
associated with these strong winds. Increased humidity
coupled with the high temperature makes the weather
very sultry in this season.
Winter is pleasant and on a few occasions, under
the influence of shamals, the sea state becomes
rough, adversely affecting the offshore oil and gas
operations. Most of the annual rainfall is confined to
this season and the majority of it is contributed by
thunderstorms triggered by middle latitude systems
passing over the region.
The region has developed rapidly in the past few
decades in terms of industrialization, urbanization and
standards of living with modern amenities. Whether
linked with these factors or not, many climatic param-
eters are showing significant changes.
The climate of Qatar is basically an arid one. Winter
months are characterized by mean monthly temperatures
of less than 20
o
C and the summer season by temperatures
above 30
o
C. Some rainfall occurs in winter and spring.
Although land heating is very high during the summer
months of June, July andAugust, the region is free fromrain-
fall activity under the influence of a subtropical high. The
mean daily temperatures during June, July and August are
33.9
o
C, 34.7
o
C and 34.3
o
C respectively inDoha. Themean
daily maximum temperatures in these months are 41.2
o
C,
41.5
o
C and 40.7
o
C. The climatic normal (1962-1990)
values of mean minimum temperature for December,
January and February are 14.9
o
C, 12.7
o
C and 13.7
o
C
respectively. InMarch, this rises to 16.8
o
C. Meanminimum
temperatures do not drop below10
o
C in any winter month.
The prevailing wind direction over the state is mostly
north-westerly. Other wind directions do occur but with a
lesser frequency. When these winds are strong in summer,
they are called ‘summer shamals’ and in winter they are
known as ‘winter shamals’. The summer shamals usually
occur for about 40 days betweenMay and July with consid-
erable inter-annual variation. On some occasions, sand and
dust storms are observed, associated with the shamals.
The frequency of thunderstorms in the Arabian Gulf is
well correlated with rainfall distribution. The migration
of middle latitude lows and highs over the Arabian region
from the north-west takes place from the end of November
to March, and in some years continues until April. The
triggering mechanismneeded for the development of thun-
derstorm activity lies mainly with these middle latitude
synoptic systems approaching the state from the northwest.
T
ransport
and
I
nfrastructure
Source: QMD
The State of Qatar is a peninsula on the western coast of the Arabian Gulf,
with a hot desert climate