JMD reports record rise in temperature during current winter

AMMAN — Director General of the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) Raed Khattab on Wednesday said that Jordan has recorded an "unprecedented" rise in temperature during this winter, "never registered in the Kingdom in 100 years". 

Temperatures at the Amman airport station have recorded an average temperature of 7.6oC during the current winter season 2023/2024, "the highest in a century".

Khattab added that the daily temperature average stands out at 11.2oC, 2.3 degrees than the annual average, marking the second-highest daily temperature average since the 2009/2010 season. 

The maximum temperature average of 14.9oC exceeds the general average by 1.8oC, he said in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Khattab added that 2023/2024 rainfall accumulation during marbaniyeh, a name given to the coldest 40 days of winter, ranged between 0.4mm and 324.2 mm, contributing 1 per cent to 55 per cent to the overall seasonal average, adding that this year's marbaniyeh ranks as the second-best in the last ten rainy seasons for the northern and central regions, following the 2019/2020 season.

Khattab added that the southern regions saw precipitation below the overall average, with the southern valleys achieving only 4 per cent of the seasonal average.