Ammon News - Jordan Times- A stronger cold front will sweep through the country starting Friday morning, bringing below-zero temperatures and heavier snow, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said on Thursday.

The new cold front will bring very strong and cold winds as well as more snow, which is expected to cover areas 700 metres above sea level and higher, meteorologist Raed Rafed, said.

“Very good amounts of rain and snow were recorded in different parts of the country. Snow accumulation was the highest in Arrabeh in southern Karak Governorate, amounting to 15cm until Thursday morning. Ras Muneef in the northern Ajloun Governorate followed with 11cm,” Rafed told The Jordan Times.

Snow in Sweileh in northwest Amman and Tafileh Governorate in the south also reached 10cm by Thursday morning.

“The weather on Friday will be very cold and rainy, with more snow and stronger gusty winds. Temperatures will be 3°C during the day and below zero at night in Amman,” Rafed noted.

The cold front will continue affecting the Kingdom on Saturday, when the weather is expected to remain very cold and rainy, the weather forecaster said, noting that snow is also expected to fall during the day.

“Snowfall will gradually stop by Saturday night, when frost and icy roads are expected across the Kingdom,” he said.

A slight rise in temperatures is expected on Sunday, when the front will taper off, but the weather will continue to be cold and temperatures will be 10 degrees below their annual average during this time of the year.

Mercury levels on Sunday will be 5°C during the day, dropping to a low of 1°C at night in the capital.

Meanwhile, the majority of the country’s roads were open to traffic “but with extreme caution” by Thursday afternoon, except for back roads in some of the southern and northern governorates, according to the Public Security Department (PSD).

“Main roads across the country are open… except for Tafileh Governorate’s inner roads and Ras Al Naqab north of Aqaba, which are closed due to snow accumulation,” a source at the PSD press office told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Despite the fog and heavy snowfall, Royal Jordanian (RJ) airlines announced Thursday that air traffic to and from Amman is operating normally and that there were no changes in schedules.

“The current weather conditions have not affected air traffic at Queen Alia International Airport,” RJ Spokesperson Basel Kilani, was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying.

Meanwhile, strong winds and heavy snow had left several areas in the southern governorate of Karak without electricity since Wednesday morning, Karak residents told Petra.

Residents complained that officials at the electricity company in Karak were not responding to their calls.

National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) Director General Ghaleb Maabrah said Thursday that the load on the country’s electric grid reached 2,000 megawatts on Thursday morning.

“The NEPCO grid is working smoothly; however, electricity distribution networks in different parts of the country witnessed power cuts due to the polar front,” Maabrah told Petra.

A polar front accompanied by a depression started affecting the country on Tuesday evening, bringing heavy rain and snow to different parts of Jordan.

Civil Defence Department (CCD) cadres evacuated two homes in the village of Kraymeh in Northern Ghor due to fears of collapse, according to Petra.

In the meantime, a CDD statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times said the department rescued 295 people in various governorates after they were snowbound.