CAIRO: UAE's National Center for Meteorology and Seismology has warned motorists against speeding as wind speeds could reach 80 km/hr. A senior NCMS official denied rumors of a cyclone, but said “a deep depression” was behind the psychotic weather patterns. “There are already some light showers in Ras Al Khaimah and nearby areas. The dusty and stormy weather will continue to prevail the whole day and will only subside by evening,” he said. The weather conditions have forced at least one school in Dubai to remain closed on Sunday. JSS International School officials said the school will remain closed for one day. It appears that Monday will be a school day for most children. “Today the school is closed due to bad weather conditions,” said the transport head of JSS International School, Al Barsha, Dubai. Many parents opted to keep their kids at home. “I did not send my kids to the school today, because it is really bad weather. I don't want to take a risk,” said Amar K, parent of an Indian school in Sharjah. Schools that were running as normal cut out all outdoor activities for the day. In Sharjah, Delhi Private School all outdoor activities were cancelled. A teacher at the DPS Sharjah said the situation is under control but, “All physical education activities and assemblies were cancelled because of the dust storm. Today we are keeping students strictly indoors.” Cleaners and gas station attendants were also having difficulties. “I am getting lot of customers who want to clean their windshield. It is a free service, but today there were so many customers who asked for this that it is affecting the work schedule at the filling station,” said the attendant at an Emirates petrol pump located on the Emirates Road. “Normally I clean my premises in the morning and today I had to clean the floors several times because the dust and sand is flowing freely into our building,” said one cleaner who asked not to be named. Stating that the weather cannot be termed as a cyclone the NCMS official said, “Cyclone usually occurs when there is a very deep depression, but is also accompanied by severe cloudy weather and rainfall. But here it is just a case of deep depression that was centered over Saudi Arabia accompanied by fresh to strong south westerly wind flow.” The cause of the storm was a low pressure that developed over parts of Saudi Arabia on Saturday. “The visibility was very low in several parts of the Kingdom yesterday. The temperature is expected to drop by about five to six degrees today and by another two to three degrees on Monday,” the official said. He also warned motorists to remain cautious. “We are witnessing wind speeds of up to 80 km/hr. Cross winds over highways can affect vehicles. Motorists need to drive carefully,” he added. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/EI1R8 Tags: Gulf, Sandstorms, School closings Section: Gulf, Latest News
