DID THE EARTH MOVE FOR YOU?
High-rise buildings were evacuated and people were forced to flee as a strong earthquake in southern Iran sent tremors across the UAE on Wednesday (10th Sep). The 6.1 magnitude quake hit at around 3pm, with its epicentre close to Qishm islands, off Iran.
Mild tremors ranging from 4.8 to 2.8 on the Richter Scale were recorded across the UAE.People in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman felt the tremors with many leaving their buildings as they worried about what was happening. Although many offices were evacuated, and people were literally ‘shook up’, there were no injuries, and no damage to buildings were reported.
I personally felt the whole apartment shake (we’re on the 2nd floor) and some of the plaster on the walls started to crumble. Although a little disconcerting, it was over very quickly, with no further tremors.
Acutal earthquakes in Dubai are extremely uncommon, however neighbouring Iran is a hotspot for seismic activity, so there is always the possibility of tremors being felt.
In general however, the weather is hot, hot hot! It is a desert and the sun shines at least 50 weeks of the year. It can be very humid between July and September, so that combined with temperatures of 45 degrees+, can be pretty unbearable.
Having said that, the last 3-4 years have not been so unpleasant, there has been a marked drop in the humidity during the Summer and Winters too, are much cooler.
We are in the Northern hemisphere so the seasons are the same as UK/US/Europe, only this is a desert, so it’s much more exaggerated in the Summer months. I’ll break it down like this:
SUMMER: JUNE TO END SEPTEMBER
TEMP: 35-45 DEGREES
HUMIDITY: MEDIUM TO HIGH 30-50%+ ON AVERAGE
AUTUMN: OCTOBER TO MID DECEMBER
PERFECT HOLIDAY WEATHER 25-35 DEGREES
HUMIDITY LOW TO MEDIUM 15-30% MAX
WINTER: JAN TO END FEB
WEATHER VER MIXED, SOME RAIN, DARK CLOUDS
18-25 DEGREES, LOWER AT NIGHT
HUMIDITY LOW
FIND YOUR JUMPERS, SOCKS AND BOOTS
SPRING: MARCH-END MAY
SECOND MOST POPULAR TIME TO VISIT
25 – 35 DEGREES
LOW HUMIDITY, BEAUTIFUL EVENINGS
Of course, this is a guide (day time temperatures) but over the past 7 years, this has been my experience.
This Summer has been particularly good, with locals and expats using the beach during July and August, which is almost unheard of… and also how you can spot a tourist!!
While you’re away, leave your home and pets in safe hands. For housesitters Click Here! and for petsitters Click Here!
