Jordan/Winter 2024/2025 Archives: Frequent cold waves and a significant decrease in the number of classified air depressions and rainfall amounts.

Arab Weather - The Arab Weather Regional Center archives the most prominent weather events and important data for the 2024/2025 rainy season, spanning from October to May. The goal is to assess the performance of the rainy season, and to refer to it in the future and compare it to the winters and rainy seasons of previous and future years, God willing.

General description of the 2024/2025 winter and rainy season

Meteorologists at the Arab Weather Center said that the 2024/2025 rainy season was marked by a significant and severe shortage of rainfall. The Kingdom was affected by several cold waves due to the control and expansion of the Siberian high pressure system at a higher than usual level, imposing extremely cold and dry conditions throughout several periods of the rainy season. The start of the rainy season was extremely weak, and the winter square ended without the Kingdom being affected by any classified air depression, amid an absence of the usual rainfall. Meanwhile, the weather patterns improved in February, and the Kingdom began to be affected by mature weather systems that partially improved the performance of the rainy season. However, attention then turned to March, which ended with weather that can be described as unusual due to the arrival of an unusual polar air mass, which resulted in snowfall and a severe wave of frost and freezing.

The 2024/2025 rainy season is classified as the weakest in decades, according to scientific analysis.

The Meteorological Department issued a statistical report indicating that the 2024/2025 rainy season is the weakest since the 1978/1979 season, and the general trend of rainy seasons indicates a decrease in the average seasonal rainfall in the Kingdom by approximately 0.6 mm per rainy season.

Experts at the Arabia Weather Center indicated that the main scientific reason for the weak rainy season in Jordan is the absence of mature winter depressions in the eastern Mediterranean basin during most of the rainy season, especially the winter square. This resulted from an imbalance in the weather system in the northern hemisphere. The Arctic witnessed the growth of high atmospheric pressures that affected the behavior of the jet stream, making it unusually weak and meandering, pushing cold air masses away towards Europe and the eastern United States. Meanwhile, they pushed towards the region in a dry, continental-style axis, accompanied by the expansion of the Siberian High, resulting in cold and frost waves without significant rainfall.

The jet stream's shift toward southern Europe, the central Mediterranean, and North Africa also led to the concentration of low-pressure systems there, bringing heavy rain and snow, while strong high-pressure systems dominated the eastern Mediterranean. The weak rainfall performance was further exacerbated by the development of the La Niña phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, which strengthened the activity of the high-pressure systems and acted as a barrier preventing winter lows from advancing into the region.

Total number of depressions and weather systems that affected the Kingdom throughout the 2024/2025 rainy season

The rainy season began with an early Siberian cold wave in late November 2024:

Toward the end of November, the Kingdom was affected by the first extension of the so-called Siberian high. Temperatures dropped significantly, and the weather turned extremely cold in various regions of the Kingdom, almost feeling like the depths of winter. Temperatures approached zero degrees Celsius in the eastern plains and some high mountainous areas, especially in the south, with frost forming in various parts of the Kingdom. The Siberian cold wave at that time of year during November was considered the earliest in many years.

February 5-6, 2025 Category 3 (Moderate-High Impact): This is the first winter depression classified after a 60-day wait and is the first of the winter season:

The low-pressure system was accompanied by heavy rainfall in several parts of the Kingdom, causing valleys and ravines to overflow, rising water levels, and gale-force winds exceeding 100 km/h in cities and neighborhoods. Snow also fell on the high southern mountains, with some snow showers falling on the northern peaks.

Following this low-pressure system, very cold winds flowed through dry paths, resulting in a lack of precipitation. However, they caused a cold wave and extremely low temperatures, the coldest since the beginning of winter, with nighttime temperatures reaching around or below zero degrees Celsius across large areas of the Kingdom, with frost occurring in large areas.

February 9 and 10, 2025: Class 1 (weakest) low pressure system:

Accompanied by cold, cloudy weather, with occasional rain in the north, center, and east of the Kingdom, and some highlands in the south of the Kingdom.

February 20 and 21, 2025: A second-degree (normal) low pressure system followed by a severe cold wave separated from the polar vortex and settled over the region:

During that period, the Kingdom was affected by a low-pressure system that brought rainfall to various regions, especially the northern and central regions, amid cold weather during the day and occasional high wind speeds.

Following the low pressure system that affected the period from February 22 to 28, 2025, a frigid polar air mass surged and centered directly from the polar vortex. It crossed a continental path and centered over the Middle East and Turkey. This air mass caused a week of extremely cold weather across the region. In Jordan, unusually cold conditions prevailed, with nighttime temperatures dropping to around -5 degrees Celsius, including in the capital, Amman, and reaching below -10 degrees Celsius, with successive waves of frost and freezing, affecting agricultural areas. Water pipes and taps froze in large areas of Jordan, and water supply was cut off at night and in the morning due to the frozen pipes. This weather coincided with frigid easterly winds that dried out the atmosphere and exacerbated the cold sensation.

March 19-20, 2025: A second-degree (winter) depression coincides with the autumnal equinox:

Jordan was affected by a second-degree low pressure system, accompanied by an extremely cold air mass across all layers of the atmosphere. As a result of the extreme cold in the atmosphere, especially the lowlands, the northern mountainous peaks, especially the governorates of Jerash and Ajloun, and specifically the Ras Munif area, witnessed accumulated snowfall during the hours of Thursday night/Friday and early morning and Friday morning.

As the extremely cold winds deepened, snow spread to some peaks of the central mountains, including the peaks of Balqa, and some high-altitude neighborhoods west of the capital, including Khalda and Tlaa Al-Ali. Accumulating for a short period, this snowfall is the first of its kind during Ramadan in about 27 years, and it coincides with the first day of the vernal equinox.

Following the movement of the low pressure system, extremely cold winds of polar origin deepened towards the Kingdom, causing a further and significant drop in temperatures. At night, temperatures fell to below 5 degrees Celsius in several parts of the Kingdom, while they fell below zero degrees Celsius on the peaks of the Sharah Mountains.

It is noteworthy that the Kingdom was affected by minor weather conditions (distributed over separate periods during the months of the rainy season) in the form of unstable weather conditions due to an unusual extension of the Red Sea depression. These conditions brought thunderstorms at separate periods, but they were not sufficient to cause a fundamental change in the performance of the rainy season, which is the weakest in decades. Perhaps the most prominent cases of atmospheric instability were those that occurred in early May and led to the formation of torrential floods in the south of the Kingdom, which resulted in 3 deaths. We ask God to have mercy on them.

General information about the 2024/2025 rainy season:

The percentage of rainfall achieved in various regions of the Kingdom for the rainy season:

Northern : 46%

Central West : 46%

Central East: 64%

Southwest: 46%

Southeast: 60%

Aqaba : 15%

Eastern Province : 53%

Northern Jordan Valley: 47%

Central Jordan Valley: 68%

Southern Jordan Valley: 79%

Number of depressions by degree:

First : 1

Second : 2

Third : 1

Fourth : There is no

Fifth : There is no

Total : 4

The most active month for weather events: February.

The strongest air depression that affected the Kingdom : a third-degree air depression on February 5-6, 2025.

The coldest month of the rainy season: February.

Note : The percentage of achieved rainfall rates is sourced from the Jordan Meteorological Department, while the rest of the archived data comes from the Arab Weather Center.