MANAMA: Last month was the second hottest July in more than a century, with the average temperature hitting 36.5C.
This is lower than last year, which recorded the hottest July, with a record average of 36.9C, since regular temperature measurements began in 1902.
“This unsettled weather condition occurs in the summer due to the approach of tropical low-pressure formation lines on the southern regions of the Arabian Peninsula and the Arabian Sea, which caused thundery showers accompanied by strong gust wind over some areas,” the Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry’s Meteorological Directorate said in its monthly weather report, issued yesterday.
A graph showing the average daily temperature during July
The kingdom recorded temperatures exceeding 40C on 20 out of 31 days in July with the highest temperature of 45C recorded on July 27 at the Bahrain International Airport.
Previously, temperatures at the airport have hit highs of 47.4C on July 15, 2000 and July 13, 2010.
The lowest temperature recorded last month at the airport was 29.8C on July 5 and 6, while Durrat Al Bahrain recorded a low of 26.7C on July 7.
Durrat Al Bahrain was also the site of the only isolated rainfall during the month, with thundery showers producing precipitation of 0.4mm on July 18. Gusty winds reached as high as 31 knots on July 29 at Durrat, with average wind speeds for the month clocking in at eight knots.
Overall, the month was the fourth-sunniest July since sunshine started being recorded in 1968. A total of 368.7 hours of sunshine were recorded.
Last month was also highly humid – on average 51 per cent of the air was recorded as being saturated with water and the highest reading was 88pc on July 10. The lowest humidity level of 11pc was recorded on July 30.
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