Exceptional weather conditions: Sudden heavy snowfall and road closures, similar to what happened in 2008 (watch the video)

Arab Weather - On the morning of Tuesday, January 22, 2008, Jordanians were surprised as they headed to work to find a layer of snow covering the streets. Snow fell on the Jordanian capital, Amman, and the eastern and southern governorates. It was the first time snow had fallen that winter.

The sudden snowfall that day disrupted traffic and transportation between and within cities, causing traffic jams and disruption to university hours and many other departments and institutions.

The snowfall at that time was accompanied by heavy rains after a wave of frost and lack of rain that lasted for more than two weeks, damaging crops and destroying vast areas of them.

Cause of sudden snow

Jordan was affected by a state of atmospheric instability, but it was of an exceptional type, as it led to thunderstorms and snowfall in areas less known for snowfall and accumulation than other neighboring highlands.

This occurred as a result of significant cooling across the various layers of the atmosphere over a period of two weeks, coupled with high humidity across all layers of the atmosphere. The prevailing easterly winds at the time helped preserve the life of the ice crystals from their formation in the clouds until they reached the relatively warm Earth's surface, which is not normally suitable for snowfall and accumulation.

The result was an accumulation of 5-10 cm of snow in areas east of Zarqa, southeast of the capital Amman, and Irbid, while the accumulated snow did not reach the highlands of Ajloun and western Balqa, which are known for their heavy snowfall.