Jordan | A study of Arab weather shows the poor performance of the rainy season this season and its effects on the water reality of the Kingdom

Arab Weather - In an exclusive study of Arab weather by (Wael Hakim, Muhammad Aouina), this detailed report in numbers reviews the reality of the weak rainy season in the Kingdom of Jordan during the last rainy season and the consequent exacerbation of the water crisis in Jordan.

Evaluating the reality and performance of the 2021/2020 rain season

Season with few depressions

The autumn season began with poor rain performance, as the Kingdom witnessed almost no significant rains during September and October, which is the worst beginning since 2013/2014, but the situation soon changed with our entry in November, as it brought with it abundant amounts of rain and in different regions. From the Kingdom, the rainy reality in the first half of Al-Murabbaniyah was not better off, but the second half of Al-Murabbaniyah corrected the rainy season and improved it significantly, and the air depression between February 16-19 is the bright face of the rainy season, especially as it achieved nearly a quarter of the rainfall In some governorates of the Kingdom during the rainy season, and as the rainy season began to weaken, it ended in weakness as well as the spring season did not witness any weather conditions that contribute to improving the rainy season.

The weakness of the rainy season 2020-2021 is evident by the small number of depressions and their low classification, as the rainy season witnessed a lack of rainy weather conditions in the Levant, including the Kingdom, which generally contributed to the end of the rainy season with significantly less than the average rainfall in most governorates of the Kingdom. It is noteworthy that the Kingdom was affected by 13 air depressions, which were divided between two first-class depressions, 9 second-class depressions, one third-degree air depression, and one fourth-degree air depression as well.

In numbers ... a difficult water situation in the Kingdom after a poor rainy season

The weakest rainy season in 10 years

The weakness of the rainy season is also evident from the figures recorded in the meteorological stations of the Meteorological Department, as the Meteorological Department's figures showed that most regions of the Kingdom, with the exception of the northern Jordan Valley, did not achieve the assumed annual rates, in other words when looking at the quantities of rainfall in the Kingdom’s governorates during the rainy season We find that no governorate has achieved its annual average, which has not happened since 2007/2008, and the statistical report showed that the average annual rainfall rate in all governorates of the Kingdom did not exceed 70%, which is the weakest since 2010/2011, which threatens the exacerbation of the water crisis, especially The Kingdom is already suffering from water crises, as it is the world's poorest country in water, due to its water reality, scarcity of its resources and the increasing demand for water.

By seasonal averages, we mean what was achieved from the entire rainy season (from the beginning of the season until the month of May) based on what was recorded on the ground during the past thirty years, specifically between 1981-2010.

The southern regions suffer from a great lack of rain

Ma'an is the least rainy region

As for the areas that receive the most rain, Ras Munif was the most receiving of rain since the beginning of the season at 501.8 mm, equivalent to 89% of the default average for the season, followed by Irbid at 401 mm, while the area that received the least rain was Maan at 11.7 mm, which represents only 28% of the average. Seasonal, It is worth noting that the general southern regions of the Kingdom suffer from a great scarcity of rain in this year, with an average of 48% of what was achieved from the rainy season.

The amount of rainfall in the capital, Amman, reached approximately 268 mm, which represents 79% of the volume of the general rainy season, and the number of rainy days was only 46 days in Amman, as for the rest of the cities and governorates of the Kingdom of Jordan, the amount of rain accumulation in Ramtha was 207.4 mm With a rate of 92% of the rainy season, 190.7 mm crunches at a rate of 56%, where the average rate of rain accumulation in the northern region was about 81%, while Salt recorded 398.6 mm at a rate of 77%, Madaba 242.1 mm at a rate of 74%, and a difference of 116.4 mm at a rate of 78%. The average rate of rain in the eastern desert was 68%, and the amount of rain in Zarqa was 116.4 mm at a rate of 93%, and towards some southern regions, Karak recorded 177.2 mm, at a rate of 54% of the rainy season, and Tafila 82.2 mm at a rate of 43%, and Shobak 95.8 mm at a rate of 39 %, And Aqaba fell during the rainy season 18.2 mm at a rate of 78% of the rainy season, while the southern Badia averaged 60% of the rainy season as a whole.

On a related note, the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation revealed that the Kingdom is experiencing a water deficit of about 20 million cubic meters, indicating that the reservoir of water dams is less than last year by about 80 million cubic meters.