Rivers of hail stun desert residents during rare weather event in UAE: 'Is this for real?'
Over 6.4 inches of rain was recorded Monday at the UAE University station in Al Ain City, located in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, Al Ain city witnessed the highest amount of hail in the country, the newspaper Al Khaleej reports.
Desert residents stunned by rivers of hail in rare UAE weather event
Residents of the United Arab Emirates were stunned as much of the desert country was hit by heavy rain and hail, with temperatures dropping as low as 7.6 degrees Celsius (45.6 Fahrenheit), according to the newspaper Al Khaleej.
AL AIN, United Arab Emirates – Heavy rain and hail this week surprised residents of the United Arab Emirates, which is mostly a desert country.
The temperatures in Al Ain city, located in the east of the country, plummeted to as low as 7.6 degrees Celsius (45.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday. A resident of the city, Romeo Tumayao Puncia, filmed a video of a river of hail inundating a residential area.
"Is this for real?" he asked in the video.
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Residents of the United Arab Emirates were stunned as much of the desert country was hit by heavy rain and hail, with temperatures dropping as low as 7.6 degrees Celsius (45.6 Fahrenheit), according to the newspaper Al Khaleej. (Romeo Tumayao Puncia via Storyful)
Puncia said it was the first hail seen in more than 13 years, making the accompanying video all the more shocking.
"The street was crazy, and everyone was outside of their building looking at this surprise," he said. "A lot of cars were damaged too."
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Residents of the United Arab Emirates were stunned as much of the desert country was hit by heavy rain and hail, with temperatures dropping as low as 7.6 degrees Celsius (45.6 Fahrenheit), according to the newspaper Al Khaleej. (Romeo Tumayao Puncia via Storyful)
More than 6.4 inches of rain was recorded Monday at the UAE University station in Al Ain City, located in Abu Dhabi. Additionally, Al Ain city witnessed the highest amount of hail in the country, the newspaper Al Khaleej reported.
The weather was unprecedented, "exceptional" and a rare phenomenon, with hailstones falling in "record sizes and large quantities," the newspaper reported.
"This atmosphere spread joy and happiness among the people, who have a special love for rain," the outlet reported. "Many of them raced to celebrate the collection and formation of hail."