Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Several areas in the Emirates witnessed heavy fog, causing horizontal visibility to fall below 100 metres.
While climate and police authorities issued advance warnings of fog formation, their employees’ employers directed, via urgent messages, not to rush to work, in order to ensure their safety due to the density of the fog.
The National Center of Meteorology issued a warning of the possibility of fog formation and low horizontal visibility, and sometimes lack thereof, in some coastal and inland areas.
Warnings for drivers
The Ministry of Interior and Abu Dhabi Police issued warnings to drivers of fog formation.
They also called on drivers to adhere to safe driving at the specified speeds of 80 km/h while fog forms, to leave a sufficient safe distance, and not to be distracted by anything other than the road while driving.
Abu Dhabi Police confirmed that it is working to alert drivers of changing speeds in fog-covered streets, through warning means, including urgent alerts via social media for those following its accounts, and early warning messages (warning messages), in areas that are subject to activating the speed reduction system via smartphones, with the start of heavy fog, and smart gate screens on external and internal roads Electronic signboards on the left side of the road (markers), automatic control systems (reducing speeds), the public transportation system (preventing buses and trucks from moving while reducing speeds in fog), and colored lights (red, blue) and (yellow).
It also called on owners of heavy vehicles, trucks and buses, business owners and workers’ bus distribution officials to alert drivers to adhere to safe driving guidelines during fog, and to enhance preventive measures to avoid accidents in such weather conditions, in order to preserve everyone’s safety.
Fog repetition
For his part, Ibrahim Al Jarwan, President of the Emirates Astronomical Society, confirmed that fog in the UAE in general is concentrated on two main dates: the first is during the fall (October and November), when it can recur for more than 20 days per month, and the second is during the spring (March), when fog formation can recur for more than 15 days per month, and then comes at a lower rate during the months of September and February.
According to Al Jarwan, humidity in the UAE generally rises between September and March, exceeding 85% on most days. During the evening, humidity is at its highest, especially from midnight to early morning. It then gradually decreases due to the influence of the sun, and is at its lowest during the afternoon, before beginning to rise after the afternoon.
He pointed out that this usually happens at the end of the night and during the early morning hours as a result of cooling and the loss of the Earth’s surface of the heat stored in objects during the night by radiation, “radiative fog”, which is the most common in the region, and occurs when the sky is clear and devoid of clouds.
