Convective storm over Alsharqyiah region, Oman

18 May 2019, 08:00–14:00 UTC

Region

Oman

Satellites

Meteosat-8

Instruments

SEVIRI

Channels/Products

Infrared Channel, Convection RGB, IR/HRV sandwich product

In mid-May 2019 parts of Oman had widespread heavy rain with hail at times — unusual for that time of year.

Last Updated

26 January 2022

Published on

18 May 2019

By Said Albahri, DGMET

During the period 17–21 May a trough of low pressure affected Oman, causing widespread rains with associated hails. Most of the rainfall occurred 18–20 May.

On the afternoon of 18 May, active convection over the southeast of the country, producing very heavy rains for two to four hours over the regions of Sur (39 mm), Wadi Bani Khalid (90.4 mm), Qalhat (31.8 mm).

This storm produced hail over the Jaalan region. Flash floods caused damage to public and private properties and 12 casualties.

ECMWF analysis showed the synoptic situation of 17 May 12:00 UTC (Figure 1) was dominated by a trough of low pressure extending from the upper level, 300 hpa, to the surface.

Figure 1: IR 10.8 with 500 hpa geopotential height (blue) and 300 hpa (red) overlaid. Credit: EUMeTrain

Different types of images from Meteosat-8 showed the development of the thunderstorm and its movement eastward. Figure 2 is the animation of the coloured IR 10.8 µm and High Resolution Visible (HRV) sandwich product. The coldest cloud top temperature reached 184.2 K.