Polar front takes hold, as snow accumulation closes several roads

AMMAN – The majority of roads in the Kingdom’s northern and central regions were either closed or partially open with extreme caution on Wednesday due to snow accumulation.

As the authorities cleared snow from the roads to restore traffic movement, they urged the public to stay at home and not to venture out unless for an extreme emergency, noting that dozens of snowbound vehicles on streets across the country were hampering their snow clearance efforts.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, the Public Security Department (PSD) said it will take administrative and legal measures against those who don’t adhere to its warnings to stay off the roads, adding that the violators’ vehicles are blocking and preventing the authorities from helping people in need.

The country witnessed very strong winds, heavy rain and snow on Wednesday as a very cold polar front accompanied by a depression prevailed, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD), which expected the impact of the extreme weather to continue on Thursday and Friday.

Heavy snow started falling in the early morning hours of Wednesday in the northern region and moved to the central region and some southern governorates by in the afternoon, the authorities said, adding that the desert road was partially open to traffic with extreme caution due to strong sand-raising winds.

Until Wednesday afternoon, streets in the capital were open to traffic but with extreme caution, except for the Safout road, which was closed due to snow accumulation, the PSD said.

Several main roads linking the northern governorates were closed for traffic due to snow accumulation, such as the Irbid-Jerash-Amman road, Nueimeh-Ajloun and Nueimeh-Irbid roads as well as Jerash-Souf road.

In Mafraq and Ramtha in the northeast, all roads were open to traffic, while those in the south were open with extreme caution due to snow accumulation, according to the PSD, which said all roads that inPetraand Aqaba were open to traffic.

Meanwhile, the Wadi Araba, Qweirah, Ruweished, Omari border crossing, Safawi and Azraq-Omari roads were all closed to traffic due to heavy dust caused by strong winds.

The heavy snow and strong winds, which reached 50 kilometres per hour, caused several power outages in Ajloun Governorate, according to the Jordan News Agency,Petra.

Irbid Electric Power Company Director General Ahmad Theinat said technical teams were fixing the cuts, which were caused by strong winds and fallen trees.

Meanwhile, the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) said on Wednesday that it has enough fuel reserves to keep power stations running during the current weather conditions.

NEPCO Operations Department Director Amin Zaghel said the load on the power grid reached 2,700 megawatts during the day on Wednesday, noting that demand dropped compared to previous days as government offices were closed.

“The decision announcing Wednesday and Thursday as official public holidays is very good because demand for electricity will drop by 400 megawatts,” Zaghel told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He underscored that that maximum load on the power grid is 2,990 megawatts, highlighting that NEPCO’s fuel reserves will allow it to generate power until 3,800 megawatts.

The JMD said on Wednesday that the blizzard will continue prevailing until Saturday, but warned that the entire country will witness frost on Sunday and Monday morning, leading to icy roads.

On Thursday and Friday, the weather will be very cold with rain, thunder and hail expected, as well as snow in areas located 700 metres above sea level and higher, while winds will be northwesterly brisk with strong gusts at times.

Temperatures inAmmanon Thursday will reach a high of 3°C during the day, dropping to a low of zero at night, while on Friday, temperatures will range between 1°C and -3°C.

Snowfall will start to gradually decrease on Friday night, as the combined weather conditions start to subside.

On Saturday, the weather will be very cold and cloudy, with temperatures in the capital reaching a maximum of 1°C during the day and dropping to a minimum of -3°C at night, according to the JMD.

In related news, the Civil Defence Department said it dealt with 45 cases of kidney dialysis and eight births, and rescued 138 snowbound individuals.