While temperatures in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are hovering above 40 degrees, the mercury in Oman remains just above the 30 degree mark, making it one of the coolest places in the region.

While it is currently around 32 or 33 degrees centigrade in the Sultanate, it’s currently 39 degrees centigrade in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and 43 degrees in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital.

Manama is currently feeling the heat as well, with temperatures pegged at 40 degrees, with Qatar also clocking in at 43 degrees. Kuwait, though, is the hottest among the Middle Eastern nations, with temperatures reported at a sweltering 47 degrees.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, an official at the National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre, which monitors weather conditions in Oman, said this is due to the cold breeze coming from the Oman Sea. “These winds are bringing the temperature down,” the official said.

“The other nations don’t have the advantage of cool winds and rainfall,” Bader Ali Al Baddaei, an administrator of www.rathth.net, a local web-based forum that discusses weather in Oman, told the Times of Oman. “Besides that, Salalah is one of those rare places in the Arabian Peninsula that experiences a monsoon season.”

AccuWeather.com, the global weather monitoring site, clarified this. “The wind in Muscat is out of the northeast or off the water,” said Jason Nicholls, senior meteorologist and manager of International Forecasting at AccuWeather.com. “This wind off the ocean is keeping coastal Oman cooler than the inland sites. It is also responsible for the higher dew points and humidity near the coast, while humidity is much lower across the interior.”

These months are characterised by the shamal season, which brings in hot, dusty winds from the desert, ramping up the already uncomfortable summer temperatures.

The National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre also said, “There is a good chance of parts of Oman receiving rainfall over the next few days, especially on Tuesday.”

In its 24-hour outlook, the National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre also said: “Cloudy skies are projected over the coastal areas of Dhofar with occasional rain, while the rest of the Sultanate will experience mainly clear skies, with chances of cloud developing over the Al Hajar Mountains during the afternoon.

“Sea winds are predicted to be light to moderate during the day and night along the coastal areas of Oman, while along the coastal areas of the Arabian Sea, the winds will be moderate to light,” it added. “The sea state in the Arabian Sea is expected to be rough, compared with Oman and the Musandam seas, which are expected to be moderate.”

The Green Mountain is currently one of the coolest places in the Middle East, and that has a positive effect on visitors.

Firas Rashid, the director of Marketing and Communications at Anantara Jabal Akhdar, said: “Because the terrain is a bit similar, many of our foreign guests have come from Saudi Arabia, and they seem to love the weather here,” he explained.

“Oman’s Meteorological Society has a weather station right behind our hotel, and so we now use that to gauge the most accurate temperatures. It rises to about 31 degrees in the afternoon, but it comes down to anywhere between 18 and 21 degrees in the morning and at night, with a humidity of only 14 per cent and that is excellent weather for this time of year,” he added.

Angel Al Araimi, marketing manager at Alila Jabal Akhdar, was also of a similar opinion. “The weather in the afternoon is about 26 degrees, so it’s definitely going to be cooler in the mornings and at night,” she said. “I think the biggest draw of Jabal Akhdar has to be the weather.”

“Many of our GCC guests stay for about a week to enjoy the fantastic weather here in Jabal Akhdar, but for the most part, we have people coming in for around three days, just to take in the cooler weather in the mountains.”

Source: Timesofoman