The UAE will soon experience its longest day this year due to an early summer solstice.
The summer solstice occurs on June 21 most years, but this year it will occur a little earlier than usual, on June 20 in most countries around the world, at 8:51 p.m. UTC, which is the earliest hour since 1796.
This celestial event will mark the start of the longest day of the year for the UAE, with daylight hours reaching 13 hours and 48 minutes. Similar variations in the solstice timing can be expected in future leap years.
Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomical Society and member of the Arab Union for Space and Astronomical Sciences, explained that during the summer solstice, the sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer, its northernmost point. In areas directly under the sun, such as southern regions of the UAE, there will be no shade at midday. Midday shadows will also be shorter across the Arabian Peninsula, with the shortest shadow occurring across the entire Northern Hemisphere.
Al Jarwan added that temperatures are expected to vary between 41 and 43 degrees Celsius during the day and between 26 and 29 degrees Celsius at night, with generally dry conditions and active winds. This should be the case during the first half of summer, which runs from June 21 to August 10.
The second half of summer, which extends from August 11 to the autumnal equinox on September 23, is characterized by an influx of high humidity, persistent high temperatures and the activation of humid winds from Kos. These winds favor the formation of cumulonimbus clouds above mountainous regions and their surroundings, causing thunderstorms.
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