Drop in temperature expected, frost alert for mountains

Muscat: A frost/ freeze warning is out in the wake of Al Azm trough that has affected most parts of the Sultanate of Oman.

According to experts, frost indicates ‘the layer of ice crystals formed when the water vapour on the plant matter freezes before becoming dew.’ The feature of the current trough experienced in the northern parts of the country is that it’s movement is associated with the northwesterly wind.

"The temperature will continue to drop significantly until Saturday 01/08/2022 with chances of frost forming on the mountain tops tomorrow," Oman Met said on Wednesday.

Explaining the technicality Bushra al Sadi, weather forecaster from Oman Met Office, said, “The fresh northwesterly wind is what the trough is connected with and this wind is linked with bringing down the temperature in the northern part of the country.”

According to her, during this weather condition, the maximum temperature ranges between 16 and 23 degrees Celcius and the minimum temperature can go down to even 3.5, which is experienced over Jabal Shams.

This weather condition is expected to be experienced currently anywhere from January 5 to 7.

Meanwhile, residents of Jabal Al Akhdar have already reported cold weather conditions. The mountains are drenched in rain, mist and enveloped by low lying clouds that flow through the range.

Malik al Hussaini from Oman Met Office explained how the temperature would drop by January 5.

However, this weather condition emerges as photographers' delight as they wait to capture the frost moment.

“It will be freezing in the mountain tops such as Jabal Shams, Jabal Al Akhdar and maybe some mountains in Musandam. But we are expecting freezing point on Jabal Shams during the early morning on Thursday and maybe Friday early morning. It is visible when the available water in Jabal Shams freezes. So maybe photographers who are keen on this feature should reach these destinations- Jabal Akhdar or Jabal Shams on Thursday or Friday mornings.”