Qatar will have the shortest day and the longest night of the year today with the winter solstice, along with other countries in the northern hemisphere. The mercury will fall below 10 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country today with strong winds due to an increased atmospheric pressure over the Qatar which has no direct link with winter solstice.
“The sun's elevation in the sky is at its lowest today, at 41 degree from the horizon, due to this it will shorten the length of the day, to 10 hours and 33 minutes in Qatar,” said Sheikh Salman bin Jabor Al Thani, a noted Qatari astronomer. Winter Solstice occurs when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the Sun. For people in the Northern Hemisphere as with Qatar, the winter/ December solstice marks, the day of the year with fewest hours of daylight
“The seasonal significance of the this solstice is in the reversal of the gradual shortening of days and lengthening of nights, we have been seeing so far. However since this is a gradual process we won’t be able to feel the difference until the end of March,” he told The Peninsula.
Met forecasts windy & dusty weather
During this time of the year, the North of the Arctic Circle towards the North Pole will have no direct sunlight, while people in the areas south of the Antarctic Circle towards the South Pole will see the Midnight Sun, i.e. have 24 hours of daylight, during this time of the year.
“The winter solstice is considered by some as the start of winter. Seasons happen because Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of about 23.4 degrees and different parts of Earth receive more solar energy than others,” Al Thani said.
“Added to this, since the day is shorter, the temperature will be cooler, during this time of the year. The sun will rise at 06:15 and set at 16:49,” he said.
According to the Meteorology Department, today the minimum temperature in various parts of the country outside Doha will fall to 12 degree Celsius, a few notches down from that recorded yesterday. The temperature within Doha will vary between 23 to 16 degree Celsius, while Abo Samra is expected to have the highest temperature variation with a maximum of 20 degree Celsius and minimum of 9 degree Celsius.
Meanwhile, the MET department has also issued a warning for strong winds and high sea until Thursday.
“A ridge of high pressure expected to affect the country starting from Wednesday dawn until early Thursday accompanied with fresh to strong Northwesterly winds,” the department announced on their social media accounts.
The weather is expected to be windy, and slightly dusty today with scattered clouds and cold at night. Strong northwesterly wind at speeds ranging from 10 to 22 knots , at times going up to 28 kts would turn the seas choppy and air dusty. The visibility forecast is low, between four and eight km at places to two km at times.
