Most of the year the weather in Qatar is dry and dusty - when it does have storms they are dust or sand storms rather than rain.
When it does have a downpour, the city's drainage systems can struggle to cope, with some smaller streets flooding.
Temperatures are rising in Doha as many people leave for cooler climes to escape the intense heat.
The hottest weather in Qatar is between June and September.
We stepped out as usual this morning, planning to head to the Corniche for our usual Friday morning picnic - only to stop in surprise.
Instead of the usual sunshine we found an overcast sky already spotting rain.
We headed down to the Rumeila Park hoping to take shelter in the trees if it poured.
Despite or because of the gloomy skies everyone was enjoying the park.
"Lovely weather," said a couple of passerbys. In a country where there are only a few millimetres of rain a year, residents look forward to a bit of drizzle just as the Brits look forward to their few rare days of sunshine.
Certainly this young girl was having a whale of time, scooting along the pathways of Al Bidda park with the Doha skyline the background...
Also see: Qatar Weather | Desert Cold | Qatar Rain | Doha Fog
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The weather in Qatar has been murky and dusty for more than a week now, with mild dust storms kicking up whenever the wind gets going. While there has been an improvement in the weather this weekend, things are forecast to get worse again from tomorrow, and the local met estimates that conditions are the dustiest they have been for six years.
These dust storms are a mixture of dust and sand. Within Doha itself, though, there is an increased quantity of dust and other materials, partly caused by the huge quantity of building and demolition (of older buildings) going on. These dust storms can cause allergies and illnesses, and local hospitals have reported a surge in cases of respiratory infections. Doctors are also advising asthma sufferers to purchase air purifiers or dehumidifiers to clean the air in the houses.
The immediate cause of the dust storms is the movement of wind over loose particles of dust on the ground. This causes the dust to first vibrate and then to leap into the air. As they return to the ground, they strike and loosen smaller pieces of dust which are then borne by the wind. In Qatar this wind is often caused by differences between land and sea temperature.
Dust storms can be huge things. They can spread over hundreds of miles, rise over 300 metres in height and are visible from space.
A thick murky fog hung over Doha yesterday, and at times even the Doha Skyline was obscured.
It was windy too, although a sandstorm never developed, and small waves broke upon the Corniche. The heat didn't let up either, reaching a humid 106 degrees farenheit (weather.com).
Also see: Qatar Weather
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The sun shines weakly through the haze in the aftermath of the dust storm that hit Doha this Friday.
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While I was driving this afternoon my phone rang and I passed it to my friend to answer. It turned out to be my wife. After starting to exchange pleasantries, my friend’s voice suddenly rose with excitement.
“What! Are you sure? Yes, we’re on our way now.” Then he put my phone down and turned to me. “Carrefour, now, and put your foot on it. They’ve got heaters!”
As you might have guessed things are starting to get ridiculous around here. At a time when, according to this article ,Siberian winds are sweeping the region, we are living in accommodation designed for blistering desert heat - large roomy houses with high ceilings and powerful, though currently useless, air-conditioners. Often, it's colder inside the house than it is outside. When I had dropped in at my friend's house earlier he was sitting on his sofa with a duvet pulled around him. Fully clothed.
We shouldn’t complain: its not the coldest it’s ever been. It was slightly colder in 1964, apparently, although not for very long. At least no-one is living in tents anymore, as many still were then.
However, we are living in a country with no heaters left. And when there are heaters, news gets out and there’s a rush on them. When Lulu hypermarket got a consignment in a few days ago, there was a mob around the heaters, and they were sold out in minutes.
So did we get a heater? We located the customer advisor - who had been nabbed by a lady presumably acting on the same rumour we’d heard - and he promised they would be in by 5.00 tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. If not then, definitely the day after. He refused our offer of a bribe to reserve us one, but I‘ve got his phone number, and I’ll be ringing him shortly before five tonight. Who knows, I could be down to two duvets and a single set of pyjamas tonight.
Also see: Record rain in qatar
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Navigating flooded roads on Saturday, I had to drive carefully around broken down saloon cars with flooded engines. On a trip round the industrial area this morning things were even worse - large floods hid the potholes which plague this huge complex, and there were more broken down cars littering the roads.
It's not normal. According to this Gulf Times article, it was last this rainy in 1964, when the highest rainfall ever was recorded with 155 mm, but it looks like this will be surpassed this year. Certainly, this December is already well above average, having recorded 30 mm in the first half of the month compared to an average annual rainfall of 13 mm - and that is for a whole month.
Winter rain hit Qatar today. I should have seen the signs – the swimming pool 
was distinctly chilly over the weekend, we turned off the air conditioning in the office the other day, opening the window in its place, and the usually unspoilt blue of the sky has been slightly obscured by fluffy white cloud.
Yet when it rained today we were unprepared. My friend had left his sun roof open to the unexpected drench of rain, and I was out in a t-shirt. In our defence, it’s the first time we’ve seen a drop of rain since April. Its early too – I haven’t heard anything about the imams praying for rain. Almost certainly, the rain today will make the newspaper tomorrow.
Not to worry though, the forecast for tomorrow is for fine warm weather, and by the time this is posted it should have returned to its normal sunny self. This is, after all, a country which sees less than ten centimetres of rain a year on average*. Not that we mind the rain or the cooler weather. Not after experiencing a Doha summer, when temperatures can get up to 50 degrees centigrade, a temperature not even air-conditioning can shield you against.
I remember on a (relatively) cool late August evening attempting to walk al
ong the Corniche with my family, hoping for a sea breeze to make the heat bearable. After 10 minutes we gave up and lurched back to the car, rather worried about my young son who was very red in the face.
In mid-September a friend and I tried fishing, arriving at the beach at about half past four in the morning. By seven thirty we were soaked in sweat, again retreating to the safety of the car and gulping down water.
But at some point between then and now the weather becomes perfect, like a hot English summer – except that you are so acclimatised to the heat that what would be hot in England is very pleasant here. And, of course, there are the continual blue skies. “It’s a lovely day,” I used to say to my colleagues when I first arrived, only to feel silly because of course every day was a lovely day – hot, maybe, but with beautiful blue skies that you might see a few days a year in the U.K.
Soon the weather will become a little bit too chilly for my liking and I might even get out the little heaters I bought last year. It’ll never even approach an English winter, though, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here and I’m staying here.
When to visit: October to June (although that might be pushing a bit)
Avoid: July
Avoid at all costs: August and September
*Marhaba (Issue no.35) reports an average annual rainfall of 70mm per year)
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