Recently, winter storms have occurred worldwide, with cold weather causing power outages in Texas and hitting snow in parts of the Middle East.
A viral video of snow-covered Saudi camels in Tabuk sparked Saudi Arabia on Twitter on Thursday, prompting online discussion about how common snow is in the region.
National reporter Joyce Karam shared on Twitter the video of the ‘confused’ camels surrounded by snow.
“Woah. Heavy snowstorm is going on in Tabuk in #Saudi Arabia. These camels look so confused:,”
Correction information:
I live in Saudi Arabia, it snows every year in the north of the country, this is not a rare event .🤷🏽♂️🥶 pic.twitter.com/9sYy1yqEXk– ماجد العطاوي (@ al3tawi1982) 18 February 2021
The statement
A viral tweet that shared the video of camels in Tabuk, with the caption “Hey climate deniers – it’s snowing now in Saudi Arabia …” has sparked many allegations regarding the reality of snow in the northern Saudi region. The tweet received more than 80,000 likes and 30,000 retweets.
A user claiming to be living in the country responded and wrote: ‘Correction information: I live in Saudi Arabia, it snows every year in the north of the country, this is not a rare event. ‘
“Climate change can not be denied, but it is also not uncommon for this region – Tabuk – to experience snow in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Contrary to popular belief, not every region in the kingdom is warm all year round. not.”
Climate change can not be denied, but it is also not so rare that snow occurs in this region – Tabuk – in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Contrary to popular belief, not every region in the kingdom is hot all year round.
– Fahad Nazer فهد ناظر (@fanazer) 18 February 2021
The facts
The climate in the Middle East is usually hot and dry because it is home to the Arabian Desert. Historically, however, some areas in the region have experienced winter weather.
On Wednesday, a rare winter storm hit several countries in the Middle East, including Libya, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Some areas had snowfall for the first time.
After one user tweeted that snow occurs in Saudi Arabia annually, another user replied, ‘I looked it up because your comments made me curious and that you are wrong. [sic] not unheard of in Saudi Arabia, it is extremely rare and is considered an ‘extreme weather event’. This is the first time in 50 years that it has snowed in the Sahara. This is far from ‘annual’. ‘
I looked it up because your comment made me curious and actually you are wrong. Although there is no snow in Saudi Arabia, it is extremely rare and is considered an ‘extreme weather condition’. This is the first time in 50 years that it has snowed in the Sahara. This is far from ‘annual’.
– RoxyBlue (@Sablesabine) 18 February 2021
The user said that annual snowfall in Saudi Arabia is extremely rare, and supported the claim by saying that this is the first time that the Sahara desert has received snow in 50 years.
However, the Sahara Desert is not in the Middle Eastern kingdom that lies in the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is in North Africa and has experienced snow for the past 50 years.
Although Saudi Arabia is usually hot and dry, it is not uncommon for snow to occur in the northern region of Tabuk.
According to Championtraveler.com, which runs the region’s winter season from December to February, Tabuk is nearing the end of its cooler season.
“Weather stations report large amounts of snow that are likely to be deepest around December, especially near the end of December,” the website wrote.
“It literally snows every January here,” one Twitter user claims about Tabuk.
The region is apparently popular with tourists due to the snowfall in an article in the Khaleej Times.
It also snowed in Tabuk last month. A tweet from the Voice of America shows a Reuters video of snow in Tabuk on January 10th.
❄️❄️❄️ The parts of Saudi Arabia were covered in snow on Friday 10 January when the temperature dropped to below zero degrees. The video shows one man playing in the snow while his friend gives him a drink in Tabuk in the northwest of the country.
(Reuters) pic.twitter.com/N1dNgKfCuA
– The Voice of America (@VOANews) 11 January 2020
The government
Untrue.
It is not uncommon for Tabuk, who is in northwestern Saudi Arabia, to experience snowfall during his winter season.
Mohamed Al Hwaity / Reuters