A spot of Desert Rain: Muscat, Oman

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peninsularity
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I knew before relocating to the Sultanate of Oman that this is one of the hottest, driest places on Earth. I’d spent a few years in the Australian outback, and wasn’t concerned about extreme heat. I hadn’t anticipated accompanying extremes of humidity though, or that the “real feel” (adjusted) temperatures would reach 60°C (140°F). How can it get so humid in a desert city that gets around 100mm (4 inches) of annual rainfall?

I was surprised to discover that many Muscat schools and colleges close when it rains, much like the rare snow-day reprieves I loved so much as a kid. As a Gulf newcomer I didn’t understand why every minor rain event dominates the headlines, or why my 18-year-old students rush to the window at the first hint of a shower, every bit as excitable as 8-year-old me on an Australian snow-day.

Then I found out just what half an inch of rain can do.

Yesterday was hot and sunny in Muscat, like most days since the last ice age. I went out for a drive, took a swim at a nice little beach and met a couple of friends at the beach bar.

A nice spot for a swim Photo: Peninsularity Ensues
A nice spot for a swim
Photo: Peninsularity Ensues
A nice spot for a beer Photo: Peninsularity Ensues
A nice spot for a beer… fine and sunny, September 4, 2.00pm
Photo: Peninsularity Ensues

After lunch the pressure dropped and the wind picked up… it started to rain. Not a torrential downpour (which would be catastrophic) but a light steady rain for less than an hour. Driving home I used my windscreen wipers only sporadically, but I did come across this…

So many cars sputter their last this way Photo: Peninsularity Ensues
So many cars sputter their final sputter this way… September 4, 4.00pm
Photo: Peninsularity Ensues

…and this.

Photo: Peninsularity Ensues
Photo: Peninsularity Ensues

Suburbs were flooded and roads were closed. Trees were down. There was a partial roof collapse at Muscat Grand Mall. Whenever it rains for more than a couple of minutes, people tragically die, swept away in the flash floods that fill the wadis in just seconds. It seems almost impossible that a desert city on the Arabian Peninsular can in just moments be transformed into scenes like this…

Muscat, 2009
Muscat, Oman, 2009
Oman, 2011
Muscat, Oman, 2011
Muscat, Oman, 2015
Muscat, Oman, 2015

If you happen to be a fan of rugged natural beauty, Muscat is a spectacular sight. Surrounded by a breathtaking rocky mountainscape, it is very fortunate that such little rain falls… a city couldn’t exist here otherwise. A few millimeters of rainwater transforms into a cascading torrent, exploding down these barren slopes with nowhere to go except into the city.

A soon-to-be flash flood, Muscat, Oman
A soon-to-be flash flood, Muscat, Oman

And then, almost as quickly as it arrived, the water is mysteriously and unapologetically gone… businesses and individuals start counting their losses and the cleaning up begins again.

Muscat, Oman, 2007

The losses sustained after each rain are almost incomprehensible. After Friday’s weather, a Times of Oman article reported that 70 lives are lost each year on average in Oman, and the annual financial cost exceeds 1.2 billion OMR (over US $3bn). This means that every inch of rain that falls on Muscat does approximately 800 million dollars in damages.

…and here’s a bit of fun footage from the Times of Oman showing the results of Friday’s rain, and some local nuts who might not completely appreciate the power of water…

 

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53 COMMENTS

  2. For the past 8 years of my stay, this is the first time that I saw Al khuwair area being flooded. For the past years of year, the flooding usually happen in Ruwi, Darsait, Qurum and Hamriya

  30. May be in future the metrology, the weather predicting department should notify the municipality about rain expected days in advance so that they can arrange to clean and keep the drainage system to free flow

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