Chilly weather conditions forecast until Wednesday

AMMAN – Severely cold weather and frost formation are expected to prevail from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

Very cold weather will prevail in most areas of the Kingdom resulting from a polar air mass, the weather department said.

Temperatures are expected to fall below their annual average by about 9 to11 degrees Celsius, according to the JMD.

Khaled Ahmad, a farmer in the Jordan Valley, said that the consecutive waves of frost have “severely damaged” nearly 40 per cent of his crops.

“This winter season was significantly harsh. We have barely recovered from one frost wave and now we are unexpectedly faced with another,” Ahmad told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Ahmad noted frost damage not only affects the crops but also the irrigation pipes as they can break or burst, which can lead to costly damages.

Abu Mahmoud, a farmer from Mafraq, told The Jordan Times that a frost wave on Sunday damaged many of his crops that were almost ready to be collected.

“Despite our efforts to try to minimise the damage, it is something out of our control,” Abu Mahmoud said.

He called on the Agriculture Ministry to provide compensation for the affected farmers as soon as possible.