‘Relatively hot weather forecast this week’

AMMAN — The Kingdom is witnessing fair autumn weather this month, with stable temperatures reaching around 32°C in Amman on Saturday, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said.

Temperatures in Amman are forecast to range between 19°C and 31°C for the next three days, with relatively high temperatures in Aqaba and the Dead Sea, reaching 35°C, according to the JMD.

JMD Director General Mohammad Samawi told The Jordan Times that the high temperatures registered this month are normal and in line with the annual average although they tend to decrease during autumn.

According to a JMD statement, the highest temperature recorded in October in Jordan was 46°C in Wadi Rayan in 1976, where 12,000 people reside mostly relying on agriculture.

The lowest temperature registered during October was in Shobak, some 180km south of Amman, at -2.4°C in 1977, Samawi said.

Ten heatwaves were recorded in Jordan in October over the past 44 years, according to a JMD statement.

The longest heatwave in October lasted for around a week in 2009, with a maximum temperature of 40°C — 7.4 degrees above the annual average.

Autumn usually brings between 20-25 per cent of the total annual rainfall average in the Kingdom, a JMD official told The Jordan Times in previous remarks.