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Merge 104.8 | 23 June 2020
As the khareef (monsoon) season begins in Dhofar, bringing moderate temperatures, drizzle, and light rains, the plains and mountains of the governorate have become blanketed in swathes of green.
As Oman News Agency (ONA) reports, most coastal wilayats, including the stretch of land from Dhalkut in western Dhofar, to Mirbat in the east usually experience wet weather this time of year as the sun moves directly overhead of the Tropic of Cancer.
The governorate’s weather during this period, which began on June 21, becomes more intense in mountainous areas facing monsoon winds, than in the plains.
The monsoon occurs due to the difference between the temperature of sea water and the temperature on land in the summer. Due to the Earth’s rotation, air slants towards the equator in a southwesterly direction in the Northern hemisphere and in a northwesterly direction in the Southern hemisphere.
The temperature of sea water drops along coastal areas in Dhofar during khareef due to the rise of cold currents from the seabed, coinciding with constant gusts of southwesterly winds loaded with large quantities of water vapor. When these winds hit the mountains, this causes the air loaded with water vapor to go up, condense, and form low-altitude clouds.
The monsoon also brings about fog in the Arabian Sea close to the coast in Dhofar, as well as rough seas. In Salalah, rainfall averages around 50 mm in during the khareef season, with most of the rains falling in July and August, averaging 120 mm in central mountainous areas of the governorate.
Source: ONA
(Also read: PACA: Weather advisory issued for dust, sandstorms in parts of Oman.)
