Jordan | Alexa: The tenth anniversary of one of the strongest snowstorms in Jordan’s history falls today

Weather of Arabia - Today, Wednesday 12-12, is the tenth anniversary of one of the strongest snow storms in the history of Jordan, as it came at a rare time at the end of the fall season, before the actual winter astronomically enters, and before the start of the square in late December, as it continued for three consecutive days at that time. The snowstorm disrupts all aspects of public life in the region due to the severity of its effects, and such storms occur approximately every ten years, according to the archives, as the region was exposed to strong snowstorms in the years 1982 - 1992 - 2003 - 2013, so it is considered a rare occurrence.

The atmospheric system supporting the formation of the snow storm at that time

At that time, large areas of the European continent were affected by a strong and stubborn air force at that time, as a result of which a very cold and polar air mass rushed directly from the Arctic Circle towards the Black Sea, then Turkey, and later to the eastern Mediterranean region, including the Kingdom.

Snow storm details

The beginning of the depression was accompanied by strong winds, heavy rain, and hail on Wednesday, December 11, 2013, and then it turned into an “arctic” snow storm that caused heavy snowfall over large parts of the Kingdom, where the northern highlands, in addition to the central and some southern highlands, were affected by heavy snowfall during the night hours. Wednesday into Thursday, and the precipitation continued intermittently during the day on Thursday on 12-12-2013, and in the early hours of the night, a cold air front formed in the south of the West Bank and moved in a northeasterly direction to reach northern Jordan, the Balqa Heights, and the north of the capital, causing a large accumulation of snow such that the thickness of the snow exceeded 50 cm at heights exceeding 900 metres, and that front included the heights in the northern West Bank, with greater intensity.

With the arrival of the main front accompanying the new depression, snowfall became regular and intensified over most parts of the Kingdom, Palestine, southern Syria, and Lebanon, so that snow thicknesses were about two meters in the Ajloun Mountains, while they approached one meter in the Balqa Heights and northern Amman, in addition to the Tafila and Hebron mountains in the southern West Bank. .

Scenes from the blizzard https://youtu.be/wtxkveNnKSo

The most prominent numbers recorded during the storm:

• The lowest minimum temperature, reaching -16°, was recorded at the Shobak monitoring station in Ma’an Governorate
• The lowest maximum temperature was -1.5° and was recorded at the Sharah Mountains monitoring station.
• The highest accumulation of snow in Jordan reached 183 cm, recorded at the Ras Munif monitoring station in the Ajloun governorates.
• The highest accumulation of snow in Amman reached 85 cm, recorded at the Sweileh monitoring station.
• The lowest altitude where snow falls is 200 meters in Aqaba Governorate.
• The highest amount of rain, 214 mm, was recorded at the Salt monitoring station in Balqa Governorate.
• The highest wind speed reached 127 km/h, recorded at the Salt monitoring station in Balqa Governorate.
• Increasing dam water by 124 million cubic metres, including various dams in the Kingdom.
• More than 4,000 people were rescued by civil defense who were trapped by snow and rain
• 150,000 cars are stuck in the capital, Amman, on the night of Friday/Saturday, December 13-14
• 40% was for homes whose electricity was cut off in all regions of the Kingdom.