Published: January 11, 2008
Rare Snow Fell on Baghdad - Unusual Winter Weather Shifting into Iran
AccuWeather.com reports rare snow fell on Baghdad, Iraq Friday. As temperatures were slightly above freezing, there was little, if any, accumulation of snow. Even so, the snowfall was a source of excitement and delight in the war-torn city, according to Associated Press.
Heavy snow is common in Iraq's mountainous far north, and the nation's high western desert (the Syrian Desert) gets whitened on occasion, but the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are almost always too warm for any frozen precipitation to fall. In fact, snow is so rare in Baghdad that long-time residents couldn't recall it ever falling before Friday. For perspective, the average daily high during January is 61 degrees F in Baghdad.
The storm responsible for Friday's snowfall in Iraq also returned heavy snow to parts of northern Iran. A storm at the start of the week buried parts of northern Iran with more than 20 inches of snow. The snow and cold were blamed for the deaths of more than 20 people.
"Not only did it snow in Iraq, but it snowed in the very heart of Iraq. (I recieved) an email stating that a snowman was made in Balad," AccuWeather.com International Weather Expert Jim Andrews wrote in his blog, "The focus for the winter snow is shifting out of Arabia and into Iran with snow breaking out widely in the west and north. It has begun as of Friday afternoon in Tehran. It looks as though the primary path for substantial snow will leave northeastern Iran for southeastern Turkmenistan, southeastern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and northern Afghanistan."
To learn more or discuss with a forecaster, please contact:
Justin Roberti
814-235-8756
Roberti@AccuWeather.com
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