‘Rain, snow provide 19.6% of Kingdom’s long-term annual average’

AMMAN — Rainfall and snow between Wednesday and Sunday provided 19.6 per cent of the country’s long-term annual average of 8.1 billion cubic metres, a government official said on Tuesday.

The country received a total of 1.6 billion cubic metres of rain between January 7 and 11, when the Kingdom was affected by a polar front and a depression that brought heavy rain, thunderstorms and snow.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said that since the start of the wet season in October last year, the country has received 4.9 billion cubic metres of rain, which constitutes 60.1 per cent of the long-term annual average.

“The region needs constant rain over several wet seasons to overcome the impact of multiple droughts and rain shortages which the Middle East and Jordan witnessed due to climate change,” Nasser added.

A total of 17 million cubic metres (mcm) of water entered the country’s 10 major dams during the recent blizzard, boosting dams’ storage to 160mcm or 49.5 per cent of their total capacity of 325mcm, according to Nasser.

Meanwhile, data from the climate section at the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) indicated that the lowest temperature during the recent blizzard was recorded in Shobak in Tafileh Governorate, while the highest snow accumulation was registered in Ras Munif in Ajloun Governorate.

“The highest snow accumulation was in Ras Munif, where it reached 70 centimetres, while the lowest temperature was registered in Shobak, where it dropped to -8°C,” Omar Hammadin, head of the JMD’s climate section, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Hammadin said the section compiles historical data by the end of every month before it calculates and announces climate-related data.