The strongest snowstorm since 2003.. A few days separate us from the anniversary of the famous snowstorm `Alexa`

Arab Weather - The countries of the eastern Mediterranean basin were affected by a snowstorm during the end of the fall of 2013, and certainly the first thing that comes to your mind when we say "snowstorm" in the fall, is the famous snowstorm "Alexa" that turned the tables on the winter snows, and which separates us a few days from its eleventh anniversary.

Details of the snowstorm "Alexa" and the weather systems that caused it, God willing

In detail, the story of the snowstorm "Alexa" began when large areas of the European continent were affected by a solid and stubborn high pressure system at that time, after which an extremely cold air mass of polar origin rushed directly from the Arctic Circle towards the Black Sea and then Turkey, and later to the eastern Mediterranean region, including the Kingdom, where it was stationed above us for two days.

As a result of the polar winds rushing directly towards the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea, a deep air depression was formed carrying large amounts of clouds laden with heavy rain and snow, which were waiting for God’s will to empty their full load on the Levant in general, which caused large thicknesses of snow to be recorded in addition to the fall of huge amounts of rain.

At the same time, the prevailing weather systems in the region as a whole allowed for the birth of a deep low pressure system that was initially centered over Syria, and then a new low pressure system developed over Lebanese territory, which contributed to the increase in rainfall and snowfall.

Stable and warm weather preceded Storm Alexa, and the atmosphere was like spring.

The weather systems deceived the residents of the Levant, as the region experienced, at the beginning of December 2013, a spring-like atmosphere, and witnessed a rise in temperatures to the early twenties Celsius in most areas. However, this spring-like atmosphere was only an introduction to the first low-pressure system to visit the Kingdom, and it was not like its predecessors, especially in terms of the extreme cold and early timing.

When did the actual and direct impact of the snowstorm "Alexa" begin on the Kingdom?

The snowstorm began to affect all mountainous areas at dawn on Thursday, 12-12-2013, and its impact increased significantly during Friday and Saturday, forming the strongest snowstorm in December since the beginning of Jordanian climate records, and the strongest since the February 2003 storm that swept through the north and center of the Kingdom, including the capital Amman, with great force, accompanied by heavy snowfall.

With the arrival of the main front accompanying the new low pressure system, snowfall became regular and intense over most parts of the Kingdom, Palestine, southern Syria and Lebanon, such that the snow thickness exceeded two metres in the Ajloun Mountains, as well as in the highlands west of Nablus, while it approached one metre in the highlands of Balqa and northern Amman, in addition to the mountains of Tafilah and Hebron in the southern West Bank. All of these numbers are record numbers for the first half of December, and the region has not known anything like them even in the winter season in recent years, going back to February of the famous snowy year 1992.

Severe cold weather accompanied the snowstorm and strong winds swept the region

With the onset of the deep depression and before the passage of its three main fronts, strong winds blew, touching the 90-100 km/h barrier on more than 5 occasions in many Jordanian cities, including the capital Amman. What is striking is that the stormy winds did not subside as usual with the snowfall, but rather increased in intensity, creating extremely stormy snow. The speed of the wind gusts reached 129 km/h at the Al-Taf/Balqa monitoring station, and their rates touched the 80 km/h barrier.

As for temperatures, they were not very extreme from zero degrees Celsius in most areas except for the Shara Mountains, while the minimum in the latter dropped to below -10 degrees Celsius, especially on Sunday night, in a new record, God willing, and some Jordanian cities, including the capital Amman, recorded temperatures of -2 to -4 degrees Celsius.