Depression forecast to bring rain, thunder and hail Friday

AMMAN — The Kingdom will be affected on Friday by a cold air mass accompanied by depression centred over the east of Cyprus with temperatures in the capital expected to reach 8ºC during the day and 5ºC at night, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

Director of Weather Forecast at the JMD Raed Rafid told The Jordan Times that the temperatures will start to drop on Thursday with a chance of rainfall. 

He said that during the early hours of Friday the depression will start affecting the country with heavy rainfall in the northern and central regions, later spreading to all parts of the Kingdom. The rain will be accompanied by lightning, thunder and hail, he added.

The meteorologist also said that floods might occur in valleys and low altitudes areas with winds reaching 70 kilometres per hour. The depression will start to dissipate on Saturday, Rafid said.

Bashar Abdallah, a farm owner in the Jordan Valley, told The Jordan Times that heavy rainfall will eliminate "several pests and fungal diseases" that affected the crops during that past few weeks, resulting in low fertiliser and pesticide use. 

"Rainfall will also improve the quality of agricultural produce," Abdallah said. 

According to agricultural engineer Ismat Dakkouri, "most of the crops can adapt to temperatures between 4-5ºC, however some cannot adapt if the temperature drops below 10ºC".

Abdulrahman Al Zaben owner of a farm in Mafraq, where he grows stone fruits, pointed out that during this time of the year the crops in his area will not be affected by the drop in temperatures. 

"However, if a drop in temperatures occurs in February, March or April it will negatively affect the fruit blossom causing a decrease in crop harvest," Zaben added.