Rare snowfall blankets Saudi Arabia's Al-Jawf: Why is it happening now?

Parts of Saudi Arabia’s northern desert turned white this week after rare and heavy snowfall. In regions such as Tabuk and Al-Jawf, golden sand dunes were covered in thick snow as temperatures dropped below freezing. Visuals of camels walking through snow-covered desert appeared across social media platforms.

Snowfall in northern Saudi Arabia is uncommon, but it has occurred before, particularly in the higher elevations of the Tabuk region, where snow has appeared sporadically over the years.

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Why is this happening?

According to the Saudi National Center of Meteorology (NCM), the strongest cold wave ever recorded in the Kingdom took place in 1992, when temperatures at the Hail weather station in the northwest fell to a record –9.3°C in January. Historical accounts also note that in January 1973, a powerful Siberian polar outbreak reportedly brought almost 20 centimeters of snow to Riyadh.

The ongoing cold wave is partly being linked to climate change. Specialists from the World Meteorological Organization note that the Arab region is heating up at almost double the global average. This creates what scientists describe as the “warming paradox,” where higher temperatures allow the atmosphere to retain more moisture, resulting in stronger and more extreme weather events.

Why does it snow in Saudi Arabia?

Although Saudi Arabia is largely a desert known for extreme summer heat—often exceeding 50°C—snowfall can still occur and is not entirely unusual in certain regions. This happens because of a combination of geographical features and atmospheric conditions:

High-elevation areas, such as the northern mountainous regions, including Jabal Al-Lawz, which rises above 2,600 meters, experience significantly cooler temperatures than the surrounding lowlands. During winter months (December to February), these elevations can become cold enough for snow.

Also, powerful cold fronts moving south from the Mediterranean or northern regions can drive temperatures below freezing.

When cold air interacts with moisture from rain-bearing systems linked to the Mediterranean or Arabian Sea, precipitation forms. If temperatures are low enough, this precipitation falls as snow instead of rain.

Saudi Arabia experienced an unusual snow event on 18 December 2025, with northern areas including Tabuk and the surroundings of Jabal Al-Lawz covered in snow.

Snowfall in deserts is rare, but it does happen on occasion. Several of the world’s deserts have recorded snowfalls, including the Sahara Desert in Algeria (notably in 1979 and again in 2018), the Atacama Desert in Chile, and sections of the Mojave Desert in the United States. These events are unusual and typically occur when cold air masses combine with sufficient moisture.