http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/12/26/rain-fails-to-dampen-christmas-festivities-many-christians-cancel-outdoor-celebrations/
Rain fails to dampen Christmas festivities – Many Christians cancel outdoor celebrations KUWAIT: The Christian community members in Kuwait celebrate a Holy Christmas Mass at the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City on Monday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra. KUWAIT: Christians in Kuwait celebrated Christmas with all its religious fervor and festivities though continuous rain drenched many parts of Kuwait all through the day yesterday. Many outdoor, although low-key, Christmas celebrations were cancelled. In fact, a group of Filipino bloggers and other social activists who were supposed to celebrate Christmas along the seaside cancelled their program due to continuous rain. “We decided to cancel our get together party today and re-scheduled our event for next week. I hope the weather will be okay by then,” the president of one of the Filipino organizations told Kuwait Times. Another religious group which had planned to hold its annual Christmas party at one of the beach resorts in Kuwait reportedly cancelled the function in the early hours of yesterday. Although indoor activities and regular mass and other church services were not affected, but there were fewer people in the pews compared to last year’s Christmas celebrations. “It is not very crowded in Kuwait City this Christmas, possibly because many have cancelled their regular Christmas activities due to incessant rain,” noted an interior ministry official who spoke with this reporter on condition of anonymity. Kuwaiti meteorologist Adel Saadoun said wet weather conditions may continue over the next couple of days, though there could be some relief today. “The weather we are experiencing right now is called ‘Deemah rain’ or a period, not actually a season, of continuous rain, which could last for hours,” Saadoun said. “It could stop by tonight, but could restart in the morning once again. Although, I have not seen rain on my radar for tomorrow (today) but Deemah conditions sometime continue till month-end,” he explained. Saadoun said Deemah rains are brought to Kuwait by seasonal northeasterly winds, better known in Kuwait as the ‘Sudan low pressure’ (seasonal light monsoon) which results in a very light rain though it can result in the entire country being drenched in rain. The temperature will also drop over the next couple of days, according to Saadoun “We can still feel the hot weather in the afternoon when temperatures hover around 23 to 25 degrees Celsius, but in the next couple of days, the highest temperature will plunge to around 16 to 18 degrees during day time while the lowest could be around ten or even less at night time,” he added. Christmas is usually one of the busiest days for Christians when, regardless of weather conditions, Kuwait City is one of the busiest places as many employers allow Christian workers to take their day off. By Ben Garcia, Kuwait Times Staff [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
