Snow is expected in most Gulf countries in winter! .. Details

Arab Weather - Sinan Khalaf - Some may be surprised that we have devoted a special report in "Arab Weather" to talking about snowfall in the Gulf countries! These countries have always been known and famous for their dry desert climate and extreme temperatures that exceed 50 degrees Celsius on some days of the year. Do the Gulf countries really witness snowfall?!

Many people may not know the fact that many Gulf countries have previously experienced snowfall in the winter, and some of the snowfall was heavy and accumulated in a striking manner, similar to what happens in the Levant. Snowfall in the Gulf countries is concentrated on the high mountainous elevations, when the region is affected by air depressions accompanied by very cold air masses.

In our next report, we will provide you with some details about prominent cases in which snow fell in the Gulf countries:

Accumulations exceeded 15 cm!

Unprecedented snowfall in the UAE in 2017

In detail, many Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, were affected in early February 2017 by an exceptional rainy weather condition, as it was affected by a highly effective low pressure system, accompanied by a cold air mass, and rain fell on a large scale, accompanied by heavy and unusual snowfall on the top of a mountain belonging to the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, and the snow was noticeably accumulated, exceeding 15 cm in some parts.

It is worth noting that Jebel Jais is the highest mountain peak in the Emirates, as it is 1,934 meters above sea level.

Jebel Shams in the Sultanate of Oman

Snow covered mountain peak in winter 2023

In another place not far away, but this time in the far south of the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in the Sultanate of Oman, which also witnessed, in several previous cases, heavy snowfall on the summit of Jebel Shams in the Wilayat of Al Hamra in the Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate, the last of which occurred on January 26, 2023 AD, when the Sultanate was affected by a low pressure system accompanied by a cold air mass, with which temperatures dropped on the summit of Jebel Shams, which is 3,028 meters above sea level, to below zero degrees Celsius, and snow fell heavily and accumulated remarkably, as shown in the attached video.

Large areas of Saudi Arabia are exposed to snow

It included Tabuk, Al-Jawf and the Northern Borders in some years.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considered the most exposed Gulf country to snow, and over large areas, sometimes including parts of Al-Jawf, the northern border, and Tabuk, and rarely the northern parts of the Hail region, as a result of those areas being affected by polar depressions and air masses of extreme cold, with which temperatures drop to zero degrees Celsius, and may sometimes be lower than that, and often this snow is completely accumulated, as happens in the Levant. We leave you with these scenes of the snow of Tarif on 11-1-2015.

It happened in January 2016.

Rare documentation of light snowfall in Kuwait

Snow in Kuwait is a very rare phenomenon, but it happened in January 2016 when light snow fell on some areas of the country unexpectedly. This surprised the residents as this phenomenon is not common in Kuwait, click here to watch the video

Is it common to snow in the Gulf?

Snow in the Gulf countries in general is not an annual and recurring event, but it can occur in some years, especially in northern Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent in the Emirates and Oman, depending on the prevailing weather systems and the depth of the extremely cold air depressions in the region’s atmosphere.