Jerash, Ajloun governorates witness snowfall on Wednesday evening

AMMAN — The Kingdom will remain under the impact of a cold front and an accompanying depression on Thursday, with rain and snow expected mainly in the northern and central parts, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Wednesday.

The combined weather conditions, which started affecting the country on Tuesday, brought strong winds that raised dust in most areas.

The Public Security Department (PSD) said all roads were open to traffic despite the dusty weather across the Kingdom.

“There were no road closures due to the dust,” a source at the PSD media office told The Jordan Times.

On Wednesday evening, the official Facebook page of the PSD’s radio station, known as Amen FM, reported “heavy” snowfall in the northern regions, particularly Jerash, Ajloun and Irbid’s Northern Mazar District. 

The radio station said heavy snow was falling at 6pm in Souf in Jerash and on the highway linking Amman with the northern governorates, particularly near Thaghret Asfour. 

Amen FM’s Ajloun correspondent said the governorate was also witnessing “heavy snowfall”, particularly in Ras Munif, Sakhra, Rehaba, and Anjara, adding that roads were still open at that time. 

Meanwhile, air traffic to and from Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) witnessed no disruptions, but Royal Jordanian said it was forced to divert some of its flights on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning due to low visibility at their destinations.

“There is no change to the flight schedule; the visibility is normal in QAIA. However, the RJ flight to Basra [Iraq] was diverted to Kuwait due to dust that reduced visibility,” RJ Media Office Director Basel Kilani told The Jordan Times.

In addition, an RJ evening flight to Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday as well as another to Aqaba returned to Amman due to heavy dust at both destinations.

Airport International Group (AIG), which operates QAIA, said in a statement that its operations and maintenance personnel are currently on standby in preparation for any weather developments. 

AIG urged passengers to initially check for schedule updates by contacting their airlines. 

“If further information is required, passengers may call the QAIA information desk at 064010250. Furthermore, passengers are advised to arrive at QAIA three hours prior to their flight departures to avoid any delays that may result from heavy traffic,” the statement said.

The JMD said cloudy weather with intermittent rain is expected on Thursday, while snowfall is forecast during the morning hours in the northern and central mountains and light snow is expected over the southern heights at night.

Temperatures will fall six to seven degrees below their annual average during this time of year, reaching a daytime high of 7°C in Amman and dropping to a low of 2°C at night, while winds will be southwesterly brisk.

Cold and wet weather is expected on Friday with chances of snow showers over high altitude areas during the day.

Temperatures in the capital will range between a maximum of 8°C and a minimum of 2°C, with southwesterly moderate to brisk winds prevailing.

The JMD issued warnings of icy roads on Friday and Saturday nights, including the northern Jordan Valley.

The impact of the cold front and depression will taper off by Saturday, but the weather will remain cold and partly cloudy with chances of morning showers in the northern region.

Temperatures in Amman will reach a high of 9°C and drop to a low of 3°C, while southwesterly winds during the day will turn northeasterly moderate at night.

Meanwhile, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) announced a state of maximum alert on Wednesday in preparation for the expected rain and snow.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, GAM Spokesperson Baker Abbadi said the municipality carried out inspections of infrastructure, bridges, tunnels and valleys. 

GAM will deal with the severe weather conditions via four operations centres, Abbadi said, noting that the municipality will give priority in snow clearance to main roads. 

GAM said the capital’s residents can call the following numbers in case of emergencies: 06/5359970, 06/5359971 or 0798166789.