KUWAIT, Jun 23 (Kuwait Times): After days of humid weather, Kuwait on Monday entered a period which will be characterized by sandstorms caused by northwestern winds, said local meteorologist Issa Ramadhan. The country will witness dry sandstorms at speeds of 20-45 km/h until the end of the week, Ramadhan predicted, adding that high humidity in the upper atmosphere had led to the formation of clouds which resulted in light showers in the Jahra area, southern parts of the country, and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia. Temperatures d
uring the week will remain between 43 and 48 degrees Celsius (109-118 Fahrenheit), he added, explaining that the advent of summer also means that the days will be four hours longer than the nights.

Responding to media reports stating that temperatures reached 80 degrees, Ramadhan said that this was false, and noted that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had set specific criteria for temperature sensors worldwide. Temperatures are measured in the shade, he explained, since the temperatures in direct sunlight could not be measured accurately due to the many factors involved.

The highest temperature ever registered worldwide was 57.8 Celsius (136 Fahrenheit) recorded in Libya on September 13, 1929, Ramadhan revealed. In Kuwait, meanwhile, the highest temperature recorded prior to this year was 51.3 degrees Celsius (124 Fahrenheit), which was witnessed on August 20, 1998, he added.

Last week saw this record broken, with the temperature hitting 52 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in Kuwait City and 54 (129 Fahrenheit) in the Mtarba area in the northwest of the country, while temperatures at Kuwait International Airport remained steady at around 51 degrees.

Several creatures at Kuwait Zoo have died in the recent searing hot weather due to a lack of adequate shade or ventilation. The creatures which died included a number of rare breeds of deer, dogs and birds of prey, as well as a macaw parrot, all of which are rarely seen in the GCC region, said Nabila Al-Mullah, the head of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources' (PAAAFR) zoo department, which is responsible for supervising the facility.

All these animals died from sunstroke which they suffered due to the extreme temperatures," said Al-Mullah, indicating that most of the creatures which died were unused to such extreme heat, which was in tremendous contrast to the climate in their natural environments.

Indicating that steps had been taken to provide other animals at the zoo with larger supplies of water to help them cope with the extreme heat, Al-Mullah also explained that the scorching temperatures, which reached the low 50s Celsius last week, had also affected the plant life there, further exposing the animals to the heat.

The senior PAAAFR official said that while the zoo had put several measures in place ahead of the summer season in preparation for the heat, these had ultimately proved ineffective. She voiced great optimism, however, about the forthcoming major zoo project, which is currently still at the planning stage, but which it is believed will eventually be one of the region's most desirable tourism destinations.

On a separate issue, the recent extreme heat combined with lengthy power cuts has led to a number of complaints from the owners of shops and restaurants in the Shuwaikh area, where staff have had to discard quantities of frozen foodstuffs which defrosted due to the electricity blackouts.

In another development, the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) has launched a new customer complaints hotline, on 152, after being inundated with complaints about power cuts. The introduction of the new service will cost the ministry a total of KD 10,000, reported Al-Watan.

Meanwhile, a former MEW Undersecretary, engineer Yousef Al-Hajri, has said that the introduction of alternative power sources, such as solar and wind power, is "inevitable," noting that he had discussed these options during a recent visit to Japan, where experts recommended wind power as being the best option for Kuwait, given its weather. The Japanese experts proposed that wind power facilities should be constructed in Kazema and in the area between Abdalli and Salmi.

Starting [on the construction of wind power facilities] now would mean that within ten years we'd be able to add 10-15 percent to the total power generation capacity," Al-Hajri explained. The power expert also revealed that a large number of studies into alternative power resources are already available at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.