By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN - Several main roads in the southern and eastern parts of the Kingdom were closed down completely on Wednesday as strong winds, estimated at 40 kilometres per hour and laden with dust, blocked road visibility, officials said Wednesday.
Lectures were also suspended yesterday at Al Hussein Ben Talal University in the southern desert Governorate of Maan, where strong sandstorms forced the university's administration to send the students home.
However, the poor weather conditions caused no accidents, according to the Public Security Department (PSD).
PSD Spokesperson Major Mohammad Khatib said several roads connecting the country's northern and southern regions were closed to traffic, including the southern Jurf Al Darawish-Husseiniyeh-Muhammadiyeh road.
Maan-Mdawara-Batn Al Ghoul and Al Karameh-Al Omari (in the eastern desert) roads were also completely closed down to traffic as road visibility was blocked.
"As the heavy sandstorms reduced visibility, we deployed several highway patrols to direct people to safer routes and prevent them from venturing onto blocked roads," Khatib told The Jordan Times yesterday.
The dusty weather was caused by fresh northwesterly winds blowing from over the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department.
The country is expected to witness similar strong winds until Friday evening, when temperatures are forecast to start rising and return to their average of 22°C, meteorologist Hassan Momani said yesterday.
"Such fresh winds are normal during this time of the year. Normally the wind blows at 10-15 kilometres per hour. It reached 40 kilometres per hour today [Wednesday] and is expected to continue to do so until Friday," Momani told The Jordan Times.
Another drop in temperatures is forecast for today and tomorrow, as they will range between a high of 17°C during the day and a low of 8°C at night, with scattered rain in the northern and central parts of the country.
On Saturday, the weather will be fair during the day with temperatures reaching 19°C, dropping to 9°C at night.
