Brace for blaze as Kuwait temperatures to hit 51°C
KUWAIT CITY, May 25: The Meteorological Department expects the weather to be hot on Monday, with moderate to active northwesterly winds of up to 45 kilometers per hour; causing dust in open areas and residential areas are relatively affected by this dust. Director of the department Dirar Al- Ali revealed that the weather maps indicate the country is affected by India's seasonal depression, which is accompanied by a very hot air mass. He added that the maximum temperature monitored by the stations at the beginning of the summer season reached 51 degrees Celsius in some areas; while moderate to brisk northwesterly winds were detected at times, causing dust in some areas, especially the open areas. He disclosed it is also expected that the maximum temperature will reach between 45 and 48 degrees Celsius in most land areas, then the depression will gradually deepen and the maximum temperature will rise to reach between 48 and 51 degrees Celsius with light to moderate northwesterly winds from Tuesday until Thursday.
Earlier on Sunday, temperatures dropped to 45 degrees Celsius; prompting the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy to refrain from implementing the scheduled power outages in all residential sectors. The load indicator remained in the green zone; recording 16,000 megawatts, in contrast to the consumption recorded in recent days, when the indicator touched the 17,000-megawatt barrier. Sources from the ministry pointed out that the drop in temperatures naturally leads to lower load rates, as it happened on Sunday. They said the ministry is forced to implement scheduled power outages to relieve the grid during peak hours as one of the solutions to the low productivity crisis it is currently facing, in addition to the consumption rationalization campaigns and importing from the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority whenever necessary.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
16 hours ago
- Arab Times
Kuwait to experience hot, dusty weather with strong winds this week
KUWAIT CITY, June 1: Kuwait is expected to experience a bout of hot and dusty weather on Tuesday and Wednesday due to a surface depression accompanied by a hot, dry air mass, according to Director of the Meteorology Department Dharar Al-Ali. Speaking to KUNA, Al-Ali said weather charts and numerical models indicate that on June 3 and 4, the country will be impacted by active, fast northwesterly winds, ranging from 20 to 65 kilometers per hour. These winds are likely to stir up dust and reduce horizontal visibility to below 1,000 meters in some areas. Daytime conditions are forecast to be hot and dusty, with maximum temperatures expected to range between 39 and 42 degrees Celsius. Nighttime weather will remain warm to hot, with moderate to active winds blowing at speeds of 20 to 50 kilometers per hour. Sea conditions are also expected to be affected, with waves rising between 3 and 7 feet. Minimum nighttime temperatures are forecast to be between 27 and 31 degrees Celsius.
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Climate change caused half the world to endure an extra month of extreme heat: experts
NEW YORK, May 31, (AP): Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025. The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central, and the Red Cross. "Although floods and cyclones often dominate headlines, heat is arguably the deadliest extreme event,' the report said. Many heat-related deaths are unreported or are mislabeled by other conditions like heart disease or kidney failure. The scientists used peer-reviewed methods to study how much climate change boosted temperatures in an extreme heat event and calculated how much more likely its occurrence was because of climate change. In almost all countries in the world, the number of extreme heat days has at least doubled compared with a world without climate change. Caribbean islands were among the hardest hit by additional extreme heat days. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, endured 161 days of extreme heat. Without climate change, only 48 would have occurred. "It makes it feel impossible to be outside,' said Charlotte Gossett Navarro, chief director for Puerto Rico at Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit focused on social and environmental issues in Latino communities, who lives in the San Juan area and was not involved in the report. "Even something as simple as trying to have a day outdoors with family, we weren't able to do it because the heat was too high," she said, reporting feeling dizzy and sick last summer. When the power goes out, which happens frequently in Puerto Rico in part because of decades of neglected grid maintenance and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017, Navarro said it is difficult to sleep. "If you are someone relatively healthy, that is uncomfortable, it's hard to sleep ... but if you are someone who has a health condition, now your life is at risk,' Gossett Navarro said. Heat waves are silent killers, said Friederike Otto, associate professor of climate science at Imperial College London, one of the report's authors. "People don't fall dead on the street in a heat wave ... people either die in hospitals or in poorly insulated homes and therefore are just not seen,' he said. Low-income communities and vulnerable populations, such as older adults and people with medical conditions, suffer the most from extreme heat. The high temperatures recorded in the extreme heat events that occurred in Central Asia in March, South Sudan in February, and in the Mediterranean last July would have not been possible without climate change, according to the report. At least 21 people died in Morocco after temperatures hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) last July. People are noticing temperatures are getting hotter, but don't always know it is being driven by climate change, said Roop Singh, head of urban and attribution at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, in a World Weather Attribution statement. "We need to quickly scale our responses to heat through better early warning systems, heat action plans, and long-term planning for heat in urban areas to meet the rising challenge,' Singh said. City-led initiatives to tackle extreme heat are becoming popular in parts of South Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia to coordinate resources across governments and other agencies. One example is a tree-planting initiative launched in Marseille, France, to create more shaded areas. The report says strategies to prepare for heat waves include monitoring and reporting systems for extreme temperatures, providing emergency health services, cooling shelters, updated building codes, enforcing heat safety rules at work, and designing cities to be more heat-resilient. But without phasing out fossil fuels, heat waves will continue becoming more severe and frequent, and protective measures against the heat will lose their effectiveness, the scientists said.
Arab Times
4 days ago
- Arab Times
Kuwait braces for scorching weekend temperatures and dust storms
KUWAIT CITY, May 29: The Kuwait Meteorological Department (KMD) has forecast very hot daytime conditions throughout the upcoming weekend, with nighttime weather remaining warm to hot. Speaking to KUNA, Director General of the Meteorological Department, Dharar Al-Ali, stated that the country is currently under the influence of the Indian monsoon depression. This system is accompanied by a hot, dry air mass and light to moderate northwesterly winds, which may become strong at times, raising dust in open areas. Thursday forecast: Thursday's weather will be extremely hot, with northwesterly to variable winds ranging between 8 and 40 kilometers per hour. Scattered clouds are expected, along with the possibility of suspended dust. Maximum temperatures will range between 45°C and 47°C. Sea conditions will be light to moderate, with wave heights between 1 and 5 feet. At night, the weather will remain hot, with northwesterly to variable winds blowing at 12 to 42 kilometers per hour. Minimum temperatures are expected to range from 27°C to 29°C. The sea will remain light to moderate, with waves rising occasionally to 6 feet. Friday forecast: On Friday, the weather will stay hot, with light to moderate northwesterly winds ranging from 15 to 45 kilometers per hour. Winds may become active in open areas, potentially causing dust storms. Scattered clouds will also appear. Daytime temperatures are expected between 42°C and 44°C. Sea conditions will be light to moderate, with waves rising up to 6 feet. Friday night will also be hot, with similar wind speeds, particularly active along coastal areas. Some scattered clouds are expected, and temperatures will drop slightly, ranging from 27°C to 29°C. The sea will remain moderate with occasional higher waves. Saturday forecast: Saturday's weather is expected to be hot and partly cloudy, with northwesterly winds between 15 and 50 kilometers per hour. Dust is likely, especially in exposed areas. Maximum temperatures will remain between 42°C and 44°C. The sea will be light to moderate with waves occasionally reaching 6 feet. Saturday night will continue to be hot, with active northwesterly winds along coastal areas at speeds ranging from 15 to 40 kilometers per hour. High clouds may appear, and minimum temperatures are forecasted between 28°C and 30°C. Sea conditions will be moderate to occasionally rough, with wave heights of 3 to 6 feet.
