Today is first day of autumn

AMMAN — Tuesday marks the first day of autumn, during which the Kingdom starts witnessing cooler weather and unstable conditions that bring the first rains of the season, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Monday.

The autumnal equinox ends summer in the northern hemisphere and ushers in autumn, which will last for 93 days, meteorologist Ahmad Arnaout said, noting that day and night will be equal on the first day of autumn.

“On this day, the sun rises at 6:25am... and sets at 6:32pm. The day will last for 12 hours and 17 minutes, while the night will last for 11 hours and 35 minutes,” Arnaout told The Jordan Times.

During autumn, temperatures gradually start to drop and the country witnesses several Red Sea troughs that cause unstable weather conditions and light rainfall.

“We started charting the weather maps on September 15 to predict rain in Jordan during the wet season. The charts indicate that several spells of unstable weather conditions will affect the country and bring showers, which commonly last for 10 minutes,” Arnaout highlighted.

The unstable weather conditions during autumn bring less than 1 per cent of the country’s long-term annual average of eight billion cubic metres of rainfall, according to the JMD.

Although temperatures start dropping during autumn, it is not unusual for the country to witness heatwaves, according to the JMD.

Arnaout said average temperatures during September range between 29°C and 30°C, noting that mercury levels will gradually drop, with average day temperatures becoming around 27°C in October.

On Tuesday, the weather will be fair and temperatures in Amman will range between a high of 29°C and a low of 19°C, according to the JMD, which said on its website that temperatures will rise slightly on Wednesday, when mercury levels in the capital will reach a maximum of 30°C and drop to a minimum of 19°C.

A drop in temperatures is forecast for Thursday, when the weather will be fair and temperatures will reach a high of 27°C and drop to a low of 17°C in Amman, according to the JMD.