Video: Did you know the UAE’s Jebel Jais mountain was once covered in 20cm snow?

It was on this day, February 3, five years ago when the UAE’s highest peak, the Jebel Jais, was covered in snow. A throwback video shared by the UAE’s Met office on Thursday shows how the predominantly brown mountain had turned white when the UAE recorded its lowest temperature of -5.7°C in 2017.

The video goes on to show how pretty paths cut across layers of snow on the mountain. Someone even planted a UAE flag on a mini snow mountain.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) video also highlighted the lowest temperatures recorded since 2003:

Jebel Jais is part of the spectacular Hajar mountains that were formed over 70 million years ago. Towering at 1,934 metres above sea level, the mountain usually records temperatures that are 10°C cooler on average than the sea level.

Although snowfall is rare in the UAE, the Jebel Jais has been covered in white on multiple occasions in the past.

An incredible video shared by authorities last month showed the Jebel Jais covered in frost.

The mountain last saw snow in 2020.

In 2009, certain parts of the mountain saw up to 20cm snow.

“The sight up there this morning was totally unbelievable with … the entire area covered with fresh snow. The snowfall started at 3pm … and heavy snowing began at 8pm and continued till midnight, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of white,” a police official, who flew a helicopter over the mountain, had told Khaleej Times then.

Other areas in the UAE have seen ice formations, too. Last year, the country recorded sub-zero temperatures multiple times, resulting in snow-like ice sheets and icicles.

- sahim@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai