Jordan: A very rare weather event... when snow fell in the Dead Sea and the snow reached a meter in Amman (details)

Arab Weather - It is normal for Jordan and the Levant to be affected by cold air depressions during the winter season, as cold air masses gradually approach the region during the fall and become more intense during the winter season with the beginning of the descent of cold air from the Arctic regions towards the region.

Arab Weather experts said that weather systems in the northern hemisphere sometimes bring polar air closer to the Kingdom and even penetrate directly towards us, which leads to the formation of very cold air depressions accompanied by polar air masses that lead to snowfall on high mountain elevations and sometimes include medium and low elevations, as happened in some winter seasons such as 2008 and the Alyeska snow in 2013.

However, it is unusual for snow to fall on the Jordan Valley and low-lying areas of Jordan. Although a polar air mass does reach the Kingdom in some years, snowfall in the Jordan Valley and low-lying areas is rare, due to the low elevation of these areas above sea level. Cold air loses some of its coolness as it descends into these areas, with temperatures increasing the lower you are above sea level, and the opposite is true for higher elevations.

But... in a very rare event, a very cold, polar air mass swept into the Kingdom at the beginning of February 1950, causing snowfall in Jordan in areas not accustomed to seeing snow.

The story of the Dead Sea snow and the storm of February 1950

According to the archival data available to us at "Arab Weather", on February 6, 1950, the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean region were affected by a low-pressure system accompanied by a very cold, polar-originated air mass that lasted for several days. This came after a direct surge of a polar air mass, considered the coldest in the region's modern history, which led to a significant and unprecedented drop in temperatures, and temperatures plummeted to record and unprecedented levels. As a result of the passage of the very cold polar winds over the water surface, a low-pressure system was formed accompanied by an extremely cold and humid air mass, which led to the fall and accumulation of snow in all areas above (-200) meters above sea level in the Levant. That is, snow fell on areas below sea level, and the snow also included the northern Jordan Valley and parts of the central Jordan Valley. As a result of the sharp drop in temperatures, snowfall extended intermittently to the lowest spot in the world, the Dead Sea area, which is (-407) meters above sea level, in a very rare and unrepeatable weather event.

Massive snowfall in Amman

Information circulated and archived since that time indicated that snow accumulation in the Jordanian capital, Amman, reached approximately one meter, while in the capital, Jerusalem, the accumulation was approximately 75 cm, and in the city of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast, snow accumulated at 50 cm.

Heavy losses due to the snowstorm

According to information at the time, approximately 70 people died due to the severe cold in both Jordan and Palestine during that snowfall, most of whom were children in the Palestinian refugee camps spread after the 1948 Nakba.

Arab Weather experts said that archival weather map data explains the unusual snowfall in areas at that time. This is because the polar air mass that rushed into the region is considered a major air mass and rushed directly from the poles towards the region, accompanied by extremely cold air and extremely low temperatures in various layers of the atmosphere. In addition, it crossed over the Mediterranean Sea before rushing towards the Kingdom, which led to the polar winds gaining sufficient moisture to cause snowfall.

Below are archive footage of the rare snowstorm: