With documents and maps: Watch how snow fell on Riyadh in 1392 AH

ArabiaWeather.com – Many people may not believe it, but snow fell in Riyadh on 1-3-1973 corresponding to 11-29-1392 AH.

Where the residents of Riyadh woke up that day to a scene they had not seen before, represented by the accumulation of a light layer of white snow on the houses and everything that surrounds them, after it rained for 3 continuous days, sometimes coinciding with thick fog that limits horizontal vision and obscures the light.

At the time, Al-Jazeera newspaper reported on the snow, stating that the weather that surrounded the capital had not been seen for more than 50 years, and that the accumulation of snow had reached 20 centimeters in Diriyah on the roofs of houses, amid the closure of schools.

Part of what was published in Al Jazeera newspaper in those days was about snow in Riyadh

The reason for this rare phenomenon... a rare and strong incursion of polar air into central Saudi Arabia

And when looking at the archival maps of that period, it becomes clear to us a very rare eruption of a very cold air mass of polar origin coming through the regions of central and eastern Russia towards the countries of Central Asia and to Iran with its descent into the depth of Saudi territory, which led to a significant drop in temperatures. Severe and unusual in most cities in the Kingdom.

Heat distribution at the level of a layer of 850 millibars on 3/1/1973, icy temperatures penetrating into the atmosphere of the Kingdom

The temperatures recorded at that time, according to the records available at the Arabia Weather Regional Center for Meteorology and Weather Forecasts, were 3 degrees Celsius during the day and one degree below zero at night in Riyadh.

While other regions in the Kingdom recorded Siberian temperatures when it reached the minimum temperature of 4 degrees below zero in Tabuk and 3 degrees below zero in Al-Jawf.

Unfortunately, the site did not have any historical photos about the situation. If you have any photos to share with us about the snowfall in Riyadh in 1973, please share them with us through our account on Twitter or on Facebook .

Archival map of the 500-mb layer position on that historic day