Public warned of ice on roads as snowfall expected to stop

AMMAN — With temperatures expected to drop below zero and rain and snowfall forecast to peter out starting Wednesday evening, authorities on Tuesday warned the public of ice on roads.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour decided to delay the start of working hours at public departments to 10am on Wednesday and Thursday, while departments in Karak, Maan and Tafileh will be off on Wednesday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Central Bank of Jordan Governor Ziad Fariz also decided to delay the start of banks’ working hours until 10am on Wednesday and Thursday. Banks in Karak, Maan and Tafileh will be closed on Wednesday due to the weather conditions, according to Petra.

Temperatures during the night on Wednesday will drop to below zero across the Kingdom, Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) Director General Mohammad Samawi said, noting that nighttime mercury levels in the high mountains, including Al Sharah mountain range in the south, will drop to -5ºC at night, while in the capital, temperatures will drop to -2ºC in its eastern parts and -3ºC in its western parts.

"A spell of freezing temperatures will start once rain and snowfall stop. Roadway icing is expected to start as early as 5pm in areas located 700-800m above sea level. In addition, traffic movement in the morning will be difficult, as road icing will continue until 9:30-10am," Samawi told The Jordan Times.

He underscored that ice on roads will continue forming until the end of the week.

The Civil Defence Department (CDD) was scheduled to use the early warning siren system on Tuesday evening to transmit warning messages to the public regarding ice formation.

"The CDD will sound the sirens today evening at 6pm in the capital to warn people of ice formation tonight [Tuesday] and tomorrow [Wednesday] morning," the CDD said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. 

Samawi highlighted that very cold and cloudy to partly cloudy weather is forecast for Wednesday, when snow showers are expected on high mountains, while by nightfall, snowfall will gradually stop and clouds will gradually clear, giving way to ice formation across the Kingdom.

The Greater Amman Municipality said Tuesday it is spraying salt on the capital's main streets and on overpasses to minimise the effects of ice formation, Petra reported.

Temperatures during the day will be 3ºC, dropping to -1ºC in Amman at night, while winds will be northwesterly moderate to slow, according to the JMD.

On Thursday, very cold weather is also expected, with ice and frost formation forecast. Winds will be easterly slow and temperatures will range between a high of 5ºC and a low of -1ºC in Amman.

The weather will remain cold on Friday, according to the department, which said that ice and frost formation are forecast to continue.

Temperatures will be 7ºC during the day, dropping to zero at night in the capital, the JMD said, while winds will be southeasterly slow.

The depression and the cold polar front that began to affect the country on Saturday brought rain and snow to different parts of the Kingdom.

The Water Ministry said on Tuesday on its website that the country's 10 major dams now hold around 50 per cent of their total capacity of 325 million cubic metres (mcm).

In a statement carried by Petra, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said rain and snow channelled 9.3mcm of water into the dams. 

Meanwhile, the JMD said that by Tuesday morning, the highest snow accumulation was recorded in Arrabeh in Karak Governorate, where it reached 22.5cm.

Ras Munif in Ajloun Governorate came next with snow accumulation reaching 11cm, followed by Sweileh (9cm), Tafileh Governorate (8cm), the capital (5-8cm), Shobak in Tafileh Governorate (5cm), Salt in Balqa Governorate (7cm) and Wadi Musa in Maan Governorate (1cm).

Snow accumulation can be higher in areas where the JMD doesn’t have stations, Samawi said.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Public Security Department said that all of the Kingdom's roads were open to traffic.