That was the temperature in Abu Dhabi today, in Fahrenheit. The hottest day of the year, and the first in 2015 in triple digits.

It will not be the last. Oh, no.

The notion of 103 is depressing, really. On April 11. And it is bound to get worse, far worse, before it gets better.

April is an either/or month. Rather like November. It could be temperate. It could be hot.

May, June, July, August, September, October … they will be hot. Mostly very hot.

Let’s look at the Abu Dhabi City monthly weather table.

See all that red and dark red in the middle of the table. That’s where we are going.

Average high in April, 94.1; in May 102.7; in June 105.4; in July 107.8; in August 109.2; in September 104.7; in October 97.7.

The mild, wonderful bit of the year here is just long enough that you almost forgot how hideous the rest of it is. December, January, February, March … pretty much ideal.

April can go either way, and it just went bad on us today, and the idea of half a year of brutal heat with (often) high humidity is enough to make you cringe.

(It is no coincidence The National has its highest rate of turnover right about now, when we are descending into hell, and X number of staffers say, “I’m not going through this again.”

For those of us still here … so, it begins.