‘Current winter marked by longest period on record with no rain’

AMMAN — To date, the current winter, 2016/2017, has witnessed the longest period on record with no rain in Jordan, followed by the 1998/1999 season, Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) Director General Mohammad Samawi said on Saturday.

Samawi noted that meteorological maps show that a depression is forecast to form over Eastern and Central Europe as of Wednesday, expecting a cold air mass to start affecting the Kingdom on Wednesday evening, accompanied by a surface depression.

Consequently, weather will change into partially cloudy and cold with showers expected on the Kingdom’s northern region, which will gradually extend, as of Thursday morning, to the central and southern regions, the JMD director said, noting that the depression will continue into Friday.

He told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the past few days registered a remarkable decrease in temperatures, noting that the Duleil station on Friday night registered the lowest surface temperature to date in November, at -12.6°C.

The JMD director added that the lowest minimum temperatures in the past few days were registered at the Duleil and Azraq stations, standing at -6°C.

He noted that the dry and cold conditions will continue affecting the Kingdom until Wednesday, due to the Siberian upper trough that is based over northwestern Russia, which causes brisk and dry eastern winds that increase the sense of cold.

On Sunday, temperatures in Amman are expected to range between 4°C and 14°C.

In Aqaba, temperatures are forecast to range between a low of 15°C and a high of 26°C, according to the JMD’s website.