For snow lovers.. In a rare event, watch how snow fell on the east of the capital Amman and the city of Zarqa instead of the mountainous heights in 2008

Arab Weather - In a return to the Kingdom's archival climate records, we recall together a rare weather incident that occurred in 2008, specifically on January 22, 2008.

In detail: Weather forecasters at the Arab Weather Center said that the winter of 2008, according to climate records, was one of the coldest seasons the Kingdom has experienced in modern history, as the Kingdom was affected by a long wave of freezing and frost that lasted for at least two weeks, leading to temperatures dropping to zero degrees Celsius and below in several areas of the Kingdom, including the capital Amman, during the night hours, and frost formed on more than one occasion, while the maximum temperature dropped to below 5 degrees Celsius on several occasions.

The archival weather data in "Arab Weather" indicate that the main reason behind this was due to a large expansion of the Siberian high pressure system towards the Kingdom, bringing with it very cold and dry eastern winds that led to a significant cooling in all layers of the atmosphere. This coincided on January 22, 2008 with a large influx of moisture from the south due to the rush of warm and humid winds from the south, which led to the emergence of a state of atmospheric instability. The prevailing eastern winds at the time contributed to maintaining the cohesion of the snow crystals from their place of formation in the clouds until they reached the relatively warm surface of the earth, which is usually not suitable for snowfall and accumulation.

Weather forecasters at the Arab Weather Center added that this helped snow fall and accumulate in areas of the Kingdom that are not accustomed to receiving snow, as snow fell and accumulated in several areas of Zarqa Governorate and southeast of the capital, Amman, while snow did not fall and accumulate in the heights of Ajloun and Jerash and some heights west of the capital, Amman. In a unique scene, the direction of the snow was coming from the east towards the west, unlike the usual air depressions in which snow falls starting from the west and the western regions and then extending to the eastern regions.

Arab Weather experts said that the Siberian high was a major reason for this, as it led to cooling in the eastern regions of the Kingdom compared to the rest of the regions. Due to this cold weather and its combination with humid winds, and coinciding with the blowing of easterly winds, snow fell and accumulated in the city of Zarqa and some areas southeast of the capital, Amman. The accumulation at that time reached 5-10 cm in the areas east of Zarqa, southeast of the capital, and Irbid. While the accumulated snow did not reach the heights of Ajloun and western Balqa, which are known for their heavy snow, the following are scenes of rare snowfall:

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