Salalah in the Dhofar Governorate is known for its lush green landscapes and crystal-clear water springs from July to September; but what sets off these settings in the middle of the Arabian desert peninsula into a mesmerizing oasis?
Despite being a popular tourist attraction among the locals, Salalah’s Dhofar Khareef season remains lesser known and unexplored owing to its origin and topography.
Khareef means ‘autumn’ in Arabic but colloquially it is used to describe the monsoon season of the geographic entities of Dhofar Governorate in Oman majorly, and Al Mahra in Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia, and southeastern Sudan.
Various reasons are attributed to the phenomenon causing the drizzles, greenery, and water flowing across wadis that constitute khareef.
But some stats first; as per official portals,
The Sultanate of Oman has a total area of 309,500 square kilometres and is strategically located in the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula at the junction of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Its long coastline includes regions that can be green and habitable.
The research analysis published in the Research Gate describes the Khareef phenomenon comprehensively. The study mentions, “Oman is bounded by the sea on two sides, the Gulf of Oman to the northeast and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.
Dhofar is the southern province of Oman that accounts for almost 50 per cent of the country’s landmass. It is the only part of the Arabian Peninsula to be touched by the southwest monsoon coming off the southern tropical Indian Ocean.
The reason for the formation of Khareef in Salalah is the formation of the factors like Salalah being located on the coast facing the Arabian Sea. Also, it faces the expanse of the Indian Ocean and the topography of the area in itself is unique.
Like the mountains; Jebel Dhofar that rise to 1,000 metres have a moon-like curvature; they encircle the Salalah coastal plain and separate it from the rest of the desert.
Subsequently, the passage of the southwest summer monsoon, coming off India parallel to the coast of Oman a warm and moist monsoon.
Further, effects of coastal upwelling of Salalah coast during the southwest monsoon.
And the presence of an elevated thermal inversion layer which acts as a barrier to convection airflow.
Alongside, the southwest winds begin to blow across the Indian Ocean in May reaching the coastal fringe of Dhofar and Salalah as a warm moist monsoon.
Hence these thermal differences between warm and wet monsoon and the cold-water surface in the sea cause the formation of dew, fog, clouds, and drizzles in the adjoining land and the phenomena is what we know as Khareef come into being.
This phenomenon lasts from the last week of June to mid-September and the drizzles are abundant enough to revive the numerous waterfalls across the entire Dhofar Governorate and captivating enough to set your spirits free.
Also, the southwesterly winds flowing in Dhofar lead to the formation of clouds. They cause the air carrying water vapours to rise and condense higher up there leading to the formation of low clouds.
The Dhofar mountains also function to hold moisture and fog, and the results are evident in the form of drizzles over the mountainous terrains and wadis.
When this phenomenon is over by September, the drizzles stop, springs start to dry up and the landscape and meadows lose their lush green splendor and get barren till it is revived again the following year with the same local monsoon casting their magical spell and turning it into a breathtaking oasis amid the desert to bask in.
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