On this day 16 years ago, temperature dipped to as low as -3℃
24 January 2009: A white blanket of snow covers the Jais Mountain of Ras Al Khaimah.Photo: AFP/File
It was one of the coldest days in the history of the UAE – January 24, 2009 – when residents were surprised at the rare spectacle of seeing pictures of the snow-capped mountains of Ras Al Khaimah.
As reported by Khaleej Times, the extreme cold spell the night before (January 23) brought the temperature to as low as -3℃. That morning (Saturday), the top of the Jais Mountain cluster – at a height of 5,700 feet – was blanketed with snow, extending more than five kilometres.
Major Saeed Rashid Al Yamahi, then manager of RAK Police Air Wing, who flew a helicopter over Jais Mountains, said that the entire area was covered with 20cm of snow.
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25 January 2009: The weather in the Jais Mountain area returned to normal. KT photo: Shihab
“The sight up there this morning was totally unbelievable with the snowcapped mountain and the entire area covered with fresh, dazzling white snow. The snowfall started at 3pm on Friday afternoon and heavy snowing began at 8pm and continued till midnight, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of snow,” he said.
The temperature on top of the mountain cluster remained extremely cold during the daytime temperature rising to just 1℃ in the afternoon of January 24. The Jais Mountain cluster is situated around 25 kilometres from Ras Al Khaimah City and normally has significantly lower temperatures even during the peak summer months.
“Much of the snow was still there even when we flew back from the mountain this afternoon. It was still freezing cold up there and there were chances that it might snow again tonight,” Major Al Yamahi added.
“The rain along with the cold easterly winds and low-lying clouds could have brought the temperatures further down on the mountains,” explained M V Varghese, an observer at the RAK Airport Meteorological Office.
24 January 2009: Snow blankets the peak of the Jais Mountains in Ras Al Khaimah. Photo: WAM/File
But it was not the first time Ras Al Khaimah experienced snow. The mountains in the emirates saw heavy snowing on four years earlier on December 28, 2004.
Major Al Yamahi recalled: “I had flown there in 2004 when it snowed, but this time (January 2009) it was much bigger and the snowing lasted longer as well.
Rashed Mohammed, an Emirati living near the Jais mountains, noted that except for occasional hailstorms – locally called barad – snowfall is not common in the mountains. “But that Friday night, it snowed more heavily than in 2004 when it lasted only for a few moments. This time, the entire mountaintop was covered under about 10cm of snow.
24 January 2009 - Residents of Ras Al Khaimah woke up to a rare sight as snow blanketed the region, with depths reaching up to 20 centimeters and temperatures plunging to -3°C. Photo: AFP/File
“I am surprised at the changes in the emirate’s weather conditions. Besides the snowfall, the cold spell has been longer this time.
Thirty-year-old Hassan Majid, an Emirati resident of the Khozam area, was upbeat about the snowfall and said nature unravels in strange ways. “Who thought that a couple of days’ inclement weather, ending with low temperatures, would result in snow capping the mountain? The snowfall predicts more changes in the country’s weather conditions in the coming years,” he added.
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Angel Tesorero is Assistant Editor and designated funny guy in the newsroom, but dead serious about writing on transport, labour migration, and environmental issues. He's a food lover too.
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