Doha sees storm clouds, light rain and wind as ‘cold’ front moves in

Doha residents woke up to cloudy skies and spots of rain this morning, amid windy and dusty conditions.

The rain was caused by the tail end of a cold front which is moving south toward the UAE, and is expected to move on by lunchtime, Steff Gaulter, a senior meteorologist for Al Jazeera English told Doha News.

Though short-lived, the rain appeared to come as a relief to many, as it signaled a spell of slightly cooler weather after a run of 40C+ days.

According to the Qatar Meteorology Department (MET), the maximum temperature for today and tomorrow will be 38C (100F).

Aside from the slight temperature dip, however, conditions remain rather bleak – the MET is warning of low visibility, poor air quality, and strong winds and large waves off the coast.

Visibility will improve slightly tomorrow, however, but it’s still going to be dusty. It will also become more humid, from a maximum of 50 percent humidity today, to 65 percent tomorrow.

Temperatures should remain fairly constant into the weekend, with the maximum temperature on Saturday forecast to be 39C (102F).

Winds of change?

Although rain in May is unusual, it actually rained twice in May last year, Gaulter said. She continued:

“We had some rain on the 4th and 8th of May last year, too. That made May 2013 a bit more bearable. So far, this May IS a little bit hotter than last year. The average for the first 13 days of May is 38C this year, and last year it was 35.5C.”

Even though rain in May isn’t unheard of, many residents have been linking today’s weather with this afternoon’s much-anticipated announcement about changes to Qatar’s labor laws, seeing the rain as a sign that change is in the air:

https://twitter.com/MDesmurger/status/466434746332250112

Did you see any rain today? Thoughts?

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