“Al-Azraq” is the coldest week in the Emirates

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomy Society, Ibrahim Al-Jarwan, reported that the coldest days of winter began yesterday and will continue until next Friday, and the period in the middle of the “Shawn Season” is called the “cold azure” period among the people of the Arabian Gulf, because objects turn blue due to their extreme cold.

Four days of this period fall within the “Horoscope of Bliss,” which began on January 15, and four within the “Horoscope of the Town,” which begins on the 28th of the same month.

Al-Jarwan confirmed that this period is the coldest day of winter, especially in open and desert areas, and the cold intensifies especially when the northern winds blow and their activity corresponds to the “eighty strike” in “Dir al-Tameen”, which falls between February 1 and 12, and the strongest northern winter winds are there.

He stated that the lowest normal temperatures in the region occur between January 12 and 25. Minimum temperatures in the desert wilderness drop in the morning to below eight degrees Celsius in most of these areas, and to below five degrees Celsius sometimes.

As for the lowest temperature recorded after the year 2000, it was with the strongest cold wave witnessed in some areas of the country at the beginning of February 2017, and it was below -5.7 degrees below zero.

Al-Jarwan added: “At the end of Shabat, the intensity of the cold ends, with the arrival of the days of the scorpions (the fortieth day of the scorpion), which is described as abundant and comprehensive rain.”

Al-Jarwan explained that the “carp” season is the second season of winter, during which the cold becomes intense and the winds become active, and it extends for 26 days (until February 10), and “Al-Na`im” is the fourth house of the seven houses of winter, and the first of the houses of the carp season.

The stars of bliss will rise above the eastern horizon at dawn on January 15, and they are eight stars in the sign of Sagittarius (the Archer). It includes two rectangles. The Arabs in ancient times called the eastern rectangle “the outgoing ostrich,” and the western rectangle “the incoming ostrich,” and they depicted it in the form of ostriches that go and come to drink water from the Al-Majarra River, four of which return to the river, and four of which issue from it.

“Al-Na`im” is known to the public as “February the First,” while “Al-Baladah” is known as “February the Second,” which is the status that follows Al-Na`im.

The cold winds of the north are active, and it is the time of “the cold of the azureq,” and it is also called “the cold of the batin,” meaning the belly and middle of the cold, and in it it is “the turn of sixty,” and it is said that “the turn of the sixty bleeds like a knife,” due to the severity of its cold.

Likewise, “Dir al-Tasha’in,” ​​which is known for the severity of the cold north winds that make the air colder, to the point that it is said: “If you hit the north at eighty, it will make the horse bleed,” due to the severity of the cold’s sting.

The pollen season for male palm trees (stallions) begins to appear, and the process of “thorning” begins, which is the removal of sharp thorns from palm trees to facilitate the subsequent successive operations of caring for them.

After the end of the month, the period of extreme cold will be over, and the weather will gradually improve with the entry of the scorpion season, which is characterized by a gradual rise in temperatures, but it is not devoid of sudden cold waves.

• 4 days in the “Horoscope of Bliss” and 4 days in the “Horoscope of the Town.”