In the recent years, UAE has been receiving only 98millimeters (3.9inches) of rainfall and most of it occurs between December and May. As you can see in the table below Jun-Oct are the driest months of the year, however most of the rainfall occurs between the months December and march. February has the highest amount of rainfall compared to the rest of the months. This is the average precipitation of Dubai; however, the average precipitation of Abu Dhabi is slightly different, most of the rainfall occurs between December and march. Snice Abu Dhabi sits on the coast but more to the west the amount of rainfall received is even less, around 89mm per year (according to the table). In UAE rainfall is very scares during the summer months, but the winds cause a frequent amounts of sandstorm. There are no many tall mountains in perpendicular to moist the air bearing wind to cause rainfall. UAE receives little rain due to the Western Disturbance from the Mediterranean Sea from Nov – Apr. This one of the reasons, why UAE is a dry and sunny place throughout the year.
The Temperature of the seawater depends on the temperature of the air. As you can see from December till April the temperature of the sea is below 26°C (which is the temperature that is considered hot), In the winter the temperature of the sea drops to 23°C; in the summer the sea temperature gets very warm and goes over 26°C, from May – Nov. The month with the highest sea temperature is August, with a temperature of 33°C (91°F). The average of the sea temperature during summer is 33°C, while in winter the average sea temperature is about 21°C. So since the temperature at sea is high then the temperature that goes inland would be high too. This is the sea temperature in Dubai, it has the same temperature in Abu Dhabi also.
This table shows the amount of sunshine hours per month does UAE get. 8hr. is the minimum amount of sunshine hours that last from Dec – Mar. However, in summer it increases with 11hr. at its highest in the months of May and June. The average sunshine is about 9.5hr. per year. Sunshine hr. are the same for Dubai and Abu Dhabi. When there is more levels of sunshine, it means that the sun give heat for a longer time causing the temperature to rise. When you compare it to the precipitation table you can see that sunshine levels are lower during the months when there is more rain.
Now let’s see how are the factors affecting the climate of the UAE.
Latitude Latitude is the most important factor affecting temperature. UAE is located near the Tropic of Cancer which makes UAE receive high-intensity insolation. UAE is hot due to their tropical location, but receives low rainfall for a variety of reasons, including the presence of the subtropical high-pressure belt.
Proximity to the sea When you compare the temperature and the sea temperature in the table above, you can see that water’s temperature is less than the temperature in the land. This is because water heats slowly than land due to the tides and currents that cause heat to be distributed further and also snice the water is clear it also helps the sun rays to distribute heat further, and due to this UAE is a hot place. Land areas heat up quickly during the day, but lose heat quickly which is why UAE is hot during day and cold at night
Cloud cover Snice there is less clouds in UAE, the incoming shortwave radiation and outgoing longwave radiation are at a maximum, this shows that it is a hot desert place.
Pressure Where there is high pressure air is sinking, and rain formation is prevented. Since UAE has less rain fall it might have a high atmospherically pressure.
In conclusion The United Arab Emirates that lies with the northern desert belt of the Arabian Peninsula , it's located near the Tropic of Cancer which makes UAE receive high amounts of direct sunlight within the summer, and therefore the features of the desert climate match UAE’s climate because it has really hot sunny summers, unpredictable rainfall which is low averaging 98mm, and high amounts of temperature and humidity (that creates the heat unbearable), and prolonged periods of sunshine which last up to eight hours per day in winter and 11 hours in summer.
