Exceptional weather events accompanied the heat wave (record temperatures, dust, and extremely rare rain)

Arab Weather - Since Friday, August 8, 2025, the Kingdom has been affected by the first heat wave of this summer, and also the first heat wave since June 2024. The heat wave was accompanied by exceptional weather conditions, including record temperatures and extremely rare summer rains that led to the formation of floods in many areas, in addition to exceptional sandstorms that are unusual for the summer. In this report, we present the most prominent weather events and statistics that occurred during the heat wave.

Exceptional weather events accompanied the heat wave (record temperatures, dust, and extremely rare rain)

This heat wave was accompanied by many exceptional weather events, not only in terms of temperature, but also with a large influx of large amounts of tropical water vapor through the upper layers of the atmosphere, which coincided with intense heating of the Earth's surface, leading to the emergence of an exceptional and unusual state of atmospheric instability for this time of year, as thunderclouds formed daily from Saturday 8/9/2025 until Thursday 8/14/2025, leading to extremely rare summer rains compared to the month of August in many areas of the south and east of the Kingdom (extending weakly and limitedly to parts of Ajloun and the northern Jordan Valley). The rains were heavy enough in the southern and eastern regions to cause the formation of torrents and the flow of valleys and ravines.

The unstable weather conditions were not limited to thunderstorms, but were accompanied by what are called strong downdrafts, which led to the formation of exceptional sandstorms in the summer, occurring daily in the desert areas of the south and east of the Kingdom, which led to a lack of horizontal visibility, and sandstorms sometimes extended to city centers, specifically during the night hours of Sunday 10/8/2025, which led to a decline in horizontal visibility at Queen Alia Airport to about 50 meters, and forced 6 flights to land at Aqaba Airport. This sandstorm also resulted in dozens of vehicles being trapped on the desert road due to the density of the dust.

Record temperatures have been recorded by weather stations since the first day of the heat wave.

A new record temperature in Amman on Friday, August 8, 2025: Following the release of official reports from Amman Civil Airport, located east of the capital, a maximum temperature of 43.5°C was recorded on Friday afternoon. This is officially the second highest temperature in the history of Amman’s records, with a slight difference of no more than 0.2°C (two twenties) from the absolute highest record in the history of Amman’s climate records, which amounted to 43.7°C, which was recorded during the historic heat wave in August 2023. Over the remaining days, temperatures were recorded ranging between 41 and 43°C in Amman.

Returning to the meteorological archive at Amman Civil Airport, which spans more than a century since the era of the Emirate of Transjordan, today's temperature not only approached the absolute record, but also approached and exceeded many historical values recorded during the most intense heat waves the Kingdom has known over the past decades:

42.8°C in 1942

42.8°C in 1952

43.5°C in 2000

42.8°C in 2007

42.5°C in 2010

43.0°C in 2020

43.7°C in 2023

A new temperature record was set at Queen Alia Airport, south of Amman: The Queen Alia International Airport monitoring station recorded a maximum temperature of 44.6°C on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, surpassing the previous record of 44.4°C, set in 2023.

A new record for minimum temperatures in the capital, Amman : During the heat wave, the capital, Amman, recorded the warmest minimum temperature in 25 years. According to data from the Amman Civil Airport station in the Marka area, on Monday, August 11, 2025, an extremely warm minimum temperature of 31.8°C was recorded. This is the highest minimum temperature in the capital, Amman, since at least the year 2000. According to archival data from Amman Civil Airport since 2000, the highest minimum temperature recorded in the Kingdom was in 2015 in August, reaching 30.8°C. Thus, the current heat wave breaks a new record in terms of minimum temperatures in the capital, Amman.

Zarqa breaks its own temperature record for more than a century : On Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the Zarqa station, affiliated with the Meteorological Department, recorded the highest maximum temperature in its history since climate records began more than 100 years ago, reaching 44.8°C, breaking the previous record of 44.6°C, which was recorded on August 20, 2010, and August 13, 2023, according to what was documented by the Meteorological Department at the Jordan Climate Bank.

A new temperature record in Aqaba: King Hussein Airport in Aqaba set a new record high temperature of 49.6°C on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, surpassing the previous record of 48.5°C set in 2020. This makes it the second hottest region in the world, surpassing the Arabian Gulf.

It's worth noting that a number of other unofficial weather stations recorded record-breaking maximum temperatures for the first time during Jordan's exposure to this extremely hot air mass, with temperatures reaching around 50°C in the Jordan Valley.

Record numbers in electrical loads were highest on the day of the peak of the heat wave.

The National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) recorded a surge in electricity load on Tuesday evening, reaching 4,765 megawatts at 7:38 PM, and on Monday, 4,700 megawatts at 7:44 PM. On Wednesday, Jordan recorded its highest electricity load in history, reaching 4,810 megawatts, amid unprecedented high temperatures.