This Ramadan is going to be a treat for the UAE residents as the Holy Month will have moderate spring temperatures and fasting hours lasting up to 14 hours, says an Astronomy expert in the country.
“The new crescent for Ramadan would be born at 21:23 pm on Tuesday, March 21 – which is after sunset – and that the next day it would be 10 degrees above the western horizon and set after 50 minutes,” Ibrahim Al Jarwan, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomy Society.
This is the reason the first of Ramadan for the Hijri Year 1444 is bound to start on Thursday, March 23, 2023, and Friday, April 21, is likely to be the first day of Eid Al Fitr. At 8:13 am on Thursday, April 20, the new crescent in Shawwal will appear four degrees above the western horizon at sundown, making the next day the first of Shawwal.
Al Jarwan said fasting hours at the start of the Holy Month would be around 13 and a half hours. And it will reach 14 hours and 13 minutes towards the end of the month.
He explained with spring astronomically starting on March 21, the Ramadan will be astronomically towards the end of the winter season.
“Temperatures in Ramadan 2023 will range from 17 to 35 degrees at the beginning of the holy month and will range from 17 to 36 degrees towards the end of the month. The “Al Sarayat” spring weather disturbances might also occur during the month of Ramadan, causing heavy thunder rains,” he added.
The World Meteorological Organisation says that March’s mean temperature spans between 17º and 27.9º, and the mean total rainfall is 22.4 mm with 3.8 rain days on average. This indicates that the first half of Ramadan will probably see many al fresco iftars across the UAE. It requires almost 32 years for Ramadan to remain on the same average date since the Islamic lunar calendar is almost ten days shorter than the Gregorian.
