Climate Change? Why Saudi Arabia Is Seeing Rare Snowfall After 30 Years
A white blanket of snow covered vast desert areas, ranging from the Tuwaiq mountain range in the west to the regions near Riyadh, as per a Coastal Digest report.
In a rare occurrence, parts of Saudi Arabia, including the northern desert region, recently witnessed snowfall, leaving several residents excited.
According to Khaleej Times, people in northwestern Saudi Arabia were overjoyed after seeing the snowfall across the region, marking a rare sight in the desert landscape.
Last week, Jabal Al-Lawz in the Tabuk region saw heavy snowfall, accompanied by fog and strong winds, while the temperature came down significantly and reached as low as -4 degrees Celsius, according to a Saudi Gazette report.
Light to moderate rains were also witnessed in Bi'r bin Hirmas, Al-Uyaynah, Halat Ammar and Shigry regions.
A white blanket of snow covered vast desert areas, ranging from the Tuwaiq mountain range in the west to the regions near Riyadh, as per a Coastal Digest report.
On social media, residents and tourists shared multiple photographs and videos of the snow-blanketed regions of the Gulf nation.
Another rare occurrence in the Middle East country was snowfall activity in several parts of the Hail Region. This happened after temperatures dipped below zero degrees Celsius, creating favourable conditions for snow accumulation.
The National Center for Meteorology (NCM), Saudi Arabia’s central weather agency, had earlier predicted the possibility of light snowfall and frost formation in several areas of the Tabuk and Hail highlands, along with the northeastern parts of the Madinah highlands. Moreover, it said that scattered thunderstorms and rain were possible in the western and southwestern parts of the country.
In Riyadh, Eastern Province and Northern Borders regions, the NCM predicted moderate to heavy thunderstorms.
The agency's official spokesperson, Hussein Al-Qahtani, said that the weather conditions in Saudi Arabia were driven by a cold air mass that entered the central and northern regions, according to Riyadh Daily.
Al-Qahtani suggested that temperatures would remain low, especially in northern areas.
Astronomer Mohammed bin Reddah Al Thaqafi suggested that snowfall during winters is a recurring phenomenon in parts of the Kingdom rather than an anomaly. He explained that northern regions in Saudi Arabia experience snowfall from time to time, through suggested that the timing is irregular and is mainly driven by changes in weather patterns, according to Gulf News.
As the meteorologists attribute it to the atmospheric conditions, the increasing incidents of such anomalies further raise questions about how climate change is reshaping weather patterns, especially in regions witnessing high temperatures.
