Jordan | From memory.. Autumn snow covers most parts of the Kingdom in white

Arab Weather - The Kingdom was affected from December 10-14, 2013, which is considered to be within the scope of the autumn season from an astronomical perspective, by a rare and unique weather system, the results of which were strong winds, heavy rainfall, and unprecedented heavy snowfall.

A strong high pressure system was centered over the European continent at that time.

We return to tell the story of this storm in some detail, as large areas of the European continent were affected by a solid and stubborn high pressure system at that time, after which a very 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 positioned above us for two days.

Simultaneously with all of this, the prevailing weather systems in the region as a whole allowed for the birth of a deep low pressure system centered initially over Syria, and then a new low pressure system centered over Lebanese territory developed, which contributed to the strengthening of rain and snowfall. We will now list what made this low pressure system distinctive, extreme and record-breaking.

For snow lovers.. Details of snowfall in the Kingdom during Storm Alexa

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Watch a historic level of snow density in the capital, Amman
#Jordan_snow #Alexa_storm
Through the dear | @oun_homoud pic.twitter.com/mqu0F77zkH

— Weather (@tqqs) December 16, 2013

The northern highlands, in addition to the central highlands and some southern highlands, were affected by heavy snowfall during the night hours of Wednesday 11/12/2013. The snowfall continued intermittently during the day on Thursday. During the early night hours, a cold air front formed in the southern West Bank and moved northeastward to reach northern Jordan, the Balqa highlands and the north of the capital, causing a large accumulation of snow, especially in the former, such that the thickness of the snow exceeded 50 cm in the highlands that exceed 900 meters. This front included the highlands of the northern West Bank with greater intensity, according to the Arab Weather website.

We were buried under the snow #StormAlexa #JordanSnow pic.twitter.com/uCBadO38OE

— Sayed Abdullah (@katalony_6) December 14, 2013

With the arrival of the main front accompanying the new low pressure system, snowfall became regular and intensified over most parts of the Kingdom, Palestine, southern Syria and Lebanon, with snow thickness exceeding two metres in the Ajloun Mountains and 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 witnessed anything like them even in the winter season in recent years, going back to February of the famous snowy year 1992.

As fall approaches, summer systems begin to collapse and the polar vortex rebuilds itself in preparation for winter.

Strong winds and low temperatures accompanied the snowstorm.

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. It is noteworthy 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 its average 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. Some Jordanian cities, including the capital Amman, recorded temperatures of -2 to -4 degrees Celsius.

Scientific study identifies the areas most vulnerable to Mediterranean storms (Medicanes) in the Mediterranean Sea

In general, Alexa is not considered an ordinary storm, as it came to an area far from the North Pole and at the end of autumn before the actual astronomical winter begins in late December. However, it achieved results on the ground in many areas that exceeded those achieved by high-class winter storms in recent years, especially in the highlands of the north of the country, up to the famous storm of 25-2-1992. While the storm of 25-2-2003 recorded a similar snow accumulation in the north of the capital, Amman, but in February 1992 it increased by about 20-40 centimeters.