![Snow in Har Adar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Snow_in_Har_Adar.jpg)
The 2013 Middle East cold snap, also referred to as Alexa,
refers to the
winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessa ...
that hit the Middle East region in December 2013, affecting
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
The storm severely affected millions of poor and displaced people across the region, especially afflicting refugees from the
Syrian civil war.
Meteorological history
Beginning December 11, a large
anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...
moved northward in the
jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering thermal wind, air currents in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are west ...
over Europe; its east edge drew a strong current of cold air south from the Arctic. This polar outbreak overspread Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean region, pushing below moist air associated with a passing front, causing heavy snow and sleet over higher ground in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. At lower elevations, heavy rain from the system caused flooding in some areas.
(The west edge of the same anticyclone drew in a warm southwest wind from around the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
to Britain.)
Events by country
Cyprus
By December 14, the storm had covered the island's
Troodos mountain range with snow.
Snowing had begun several days earlier, with snow reaching a peak thickness of in Troodos. Four hundred customers lost electricity, and several villages, including
Armenohori,
Farmakas,
Kampi
Kampi ( gr, Καμπί) is a small village located in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, east of the town of Palaichori Oreinis
Palaichori Oreinis () is a village located in the Nicosia District of Cyprus on the E 903 road.
The village stan ...
, and
Sinaoros, completely lost it for extended periods of time.
Egypt
Egypt's capital
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
witnessed extremely rare snowfall (mostly
graupel
Graupel (; ), also called soft hail, hominy snow, or snow pellets, is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets in air are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming balls of crisp, opaque rime.
Graupel is distinct from ...
) on Friday, December 13, that the local media claimed to be the first in 112 years. Nighttime temperatures were expected to drop as low as . Snow also fell heavily on mountains in the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
.
[*
*
*]
Israel
![Snow in Jerusalem 12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Snow_in_Jerusalem_12.12.2013_-3.jpg)
On December 13, 2013, of
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fell in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and in the
Kefar Etzion
Kfar Etzion ( he, כְּפַר עֶצְיוֹן, ''lit.'' Etzion Village) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established ...
area. Warmer parts of Israel received heavy rains, causing floods. The
railway into Jerusalem operated on the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
for people stranded by blocked roads.
Roads were closed in Israel by deep snow and flooding. Storm clouds prompted
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...
to shut down, forcing US Secretary of State
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
to cut short his meeting with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
and return to the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
before roads and airports became unusable.
Jerusalem was cut off for 48 hours by deep snow and flooding and cars were abandoned after they got stuck in snow.
Palestine, West Bank
On December 13, 2013, 40–70 cm (16–28 in) of snow fell in Jerusalem. Warmer parts of
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
received heavy rains, causing floods. The railway into Jerusalem was stranded by blocked roads.
Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Hebron and many other towns and cities were coated in snow and some lower-lying areas suffered flooding from heavy rain.
Snow in Ramallah, Nablus, and Hebron ranged from , and in Bethlehem ranged from . The scene in Manger Square, the square adjacent to the Church of the Nativity was that of a white Christmas with the square fully decorated and covered with a deep coat of snow.
Palestine, Gaza Strip
The
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
was lashed by torrential rain for a third day, and its Hamas
rulers
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines.
Variants
Rulers have long ...
said that residents had been evacuated from 60 flooded homes since storms hit the coastal territory on December 11.
[ ]
Jordan
In
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, Ghazi Sarhan, spokesman for Jordan's Administration of Syrian Refugee Camps, announced on December 13, that "During the past 48 hours 10,000 blankets and 1,500 heaters have been distributed to refugees."
[ Deep snow fell in ]Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
, where King Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...
helped to push a car that had got stuck in snow.
Lebanon
While snow is a common yearly occurrence in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, many Syrian refugees were severely affected by the unusually cold conditions.
It was reported that the Lebanese Army was called in to help distribute emergency aid to refugees, and the UN handed out fuel, blankets, heaters and food rations amid a third day of severe winter weather in the region.
According to Abou Faour's announcement, published in Al Nahar newspaper on December 12, "There are 1,600 refugee akeshift campsin addition to 431 random camps, which makes it difficult to reach these places. That is why the cabinet had to ask for the help of the army to make as much aid reach those refugees as possible".[
]
Syria
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) issued plans to airlift of food for 50,000 to 60,000 people into the northeastern province of Hasakah from Iraq. The UN airlift of urgently needed food for tens of thousands of people in northeastern Syria, originally planned for December 12, was delayed by snow.[
According to Matthew Hollingworth, Syria Country Director for the United Nations' World Food Programme, most internally displaced Syrians fled their homes with few belongings so they do not even have enough warm clothes or blankets to fend off the freezing weather. They desperately need fuel for heating and to cook the food they receive as humanitarian assistance."][ Reportedly, a child and a baby died from the cold on December 12, and an activist in a besieged rebel-held town of Harra said residents were struggling to stay warm with the electricity cut off and no food or fuel allowed in.
In southern Syria, the ]Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
were covered with snow up to at least deep.
External links
Snow in the Egyptian town of Madinaty, 40 km east of Cairo, on December 13, 2013.
'Snow Blankets Eastern Mediterranean: , Palestine, Syria, Cyprus and Lebanon'
King Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...
in Amman helping to push a car which got stuck in deep snow
Google: snow scenes in Egypt and Sinai
Snow in Cairo
http://news.sky.com/story/1182209/egypt-sees-first-snow-storm-in-years] Snow in Egypt and Sinai
References
{{Cold wave
2013 meteorology, Middle East cold snap
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2013 disasters in Asia