What Winter Means In Dubai - Dubai Weather

  So winter is finally here, well Dubai's definition of winter anyways. You know winter is here when you don't have to be permanently sitting in a stream of cold air being blasted by your air conditioner set to its lowest setting. You also know its winter when you can actually drive around with your windows cracked open and not feel like you just opened the oven door to check on your lamb roast. That big gush of hot air to singe even your nostrils.

  Even in the winteriest ( is that even a word? ) of winters, it still never gets cold enough to don your all your snazzy winter gear that has spent the entire year mothballed in your closet, the leather jackets, wind breakers, your long sleeved jumpers or hand knitted sweaters your grandma sent you last year. But we wear them regardless, because its the only time we can strut our stuff, out in the open and not end up drenched in our own sweat and smelling like a week old laundry pile. At least that's the case in the city.

  When I was living out in one of new developments fueled by the property boom of the 2000's away from the city, on the border of where the city limits end and the desert begins, I must admit it did get cold, cold enough to warrant wearing a pullover even at home. I even know of a friend who bought an electric heater to keep warm in the house, but I'm pretty sure it's never been used since. But it does really get cold out in the deserts and the mountains away from the city.

  As I've spent many a cold night camping out in the spectacular wilderness this country has to offer, I can pretty much say that without being wrapped in a layer of warm clothing and a campfire going, those nights would have been pretty rough to say the least.

  I once got in argument with a buddy of mine on how cold it really gets here, and this was before the internet came along where you can verify such things with the latest temperature reading of almost any place on this planet. So to settle the argument, we managed to convince another buddy to join us and all three of us went out in the middle of the night, to Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain City, the highest point accessible by car at the time, our sole instrument to rely on would be the temperature readout in the car.

The road going up Jebel Hafeet at night

  Long story short, we three spent a really uncomfortable night in a 2 door Chevy Cavalier parked on a windy mountain top 1200 ft high. But I lost the argument as the car read out never showed less than 2 Celsius and the argument was that it did dip below 0 at such extreme places. Now in this day and age of instant information we do know now, that it does and that car temperature read outs are not very reliable.

  But the coldest nights I've spent would probably be the time when we were out camping near Liwa, an oasis out in the middle of no where, which is pretty much the southern most part of the country right next to the Saudi border and start of the Rub-Al-Khali translated as the empty quarter, the world's largest uninterupted sand desert, with some of the highest sand dunes in the world almost a 1000 ft high.

View from our campsite, as you can see it had just rained that morning, the sky cloudy and sand still wet 

 The worst part was after we had done all our eating and merry making around the camp fire and pretty much beat down from a very long day of being up since before the break of dawn, the long drive to Liwa, navigating through the dunes to find a good camping spot then setting up camp. It was time to call it a day, put out the fire, and hunker down for the night.

  It was as cold as it could get, I was all zipped tight in our tent, snug as a bug in a rug, just as I was getting comfortable and dozing off to la la land, it happened! A deep growl, it wasn't the yeti of the desert. It came from deep with in my bowels and an instant regret came over me at chomping down on all the succulent kebabs and tikkas I had downed just a couple of hours ago, the infamous call to nature and the big one, if you know what I mean. Without getting into too much gory details lets just say it was one of the most cold and uncomfortable experiences of my life, tip toeing out into the cold windy night, barefooted on the freezing sand, it also didn't help having to wash up afterwards with water which I'm sure was on the verge of turning into ice. Brrrrrrr.

  Anyways, even though it is winter now, it still doesn't feel like proper winter has set in until we get slapped by some rain, usually after you've just washed your car. The weather has been overcast over the weekend, remember weekend here is Friday and Saturday. Even if you come from a place where its cloudy and rainy 200 plus days a year but after staying here a while, a cloudy day is something to rejoice and be merry about. A pleasant break from the sun so bright and hot that it feels like its breathing down your neck.

  The east coast with towns like Fujairah and Kalba have been experiencing rain and even some hail up north in Ras Al Khaima but nothing for us coastal dwellers here on the west coast. Sigh. Although any rain that lasts for more than a few minutes and is anything more than a scattered shower brings in its own set of special challenges to a place that is not used to rain and has just a handful of rainy days in a year. Read more about it what can occur when it rains here Even so, any rain is more than welcomed. The omnipresent dusts settles, the ground just seeps it in, like a parched traveler having his first drink in days. The air smells cleans, visibility increases, you can actually see far off into the distance without the ever looming dusty haze clouding your vision.

  Rain has the total opposite effect here in Dubai than what we all have seen, heard and read in our life. That cloudy days are gloomy and sad, even nursery rhymes of asking the rain to bugger off because little johnny wants to play. That rainy and cloudy days spread melancholy. No one wants to do anything, just stay at home and wait it out. A rainy cloud depicted hanging over someone heads means that person is sad or having a very bad day.

  Here in Dubai when you get up and look out of the window and see that nice fluffy dark blanket of woolly wonderness in the sky, it instantly puts you in a good mood, no matter how groggy you woke up, you're instantly energized. Meh, coffee is for losers on a such a fine day, you just know today is going to be an awesome day and if you don't have work, that means its time to get busy outdoors even if it means just sitting on the rarely used outside seating areas in restaurants or cafes, sipping on your favourite beverage.

  Anything as long as you are not confined inside. To me being indoors on a nice cold cloudy or better yet rainy day feels like what I can only imagine an inmate, doing a long stint in prison would feel like as he stares through his tiny cell window on to the outside world. There is this whole beautiful world outside to enjoy, while he is forced to be locked up in tiny cell.

 
  Do you have any interesting stories about winter time in Dubai? Don't forget to leave your feedback, thoughts and stories in the comments section below and also don't forget to press the subscribe button below to keep you up to day on more interesting thoughts, stories and day to day happenings here on Dubai Journals. And if you found this post worthwhile please consider a small donation by clicking the paypal donate icon on your top right and also below this post. Thank You