Snow fell on the Jebel Jais mountain area in the United Arab Emirates for the second time in recorded history this weekend, reports the National. The area is 25 kilometers from Ras al Khaimah City, one of the emirates in the UAE. The event was so rare there was no word to describe it, according to a resident.
Aisha al Hebsy, a woman in her 50s who has lived in the mountains near Jebel Jais all her life, said snowfall in the area was so unheard of the local dialect does not even have a word for it. Hail is known as bared, which literally translates as cold. "Twenty years ago we had lots of hail," said Ms al Hebsy. "Last night was like this. At four in the morning we came out and the ground was white."
The snow began on the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah on Friday night, reports Gulf News.
The extreme cold spell brought the temperature on top of the Jebel Jais mountain cluster, situated at a height of 5,700 feet, to as low as -3 degree Celsius on Friday night, as the snow blanketed an area extending over 5kms.
Major Saeed Rashid Al Yamahi, Manager of the Air Wing of RAK Police, who flew a helicopter to the top of the Jebel Jais mountain, said that the entire area was covered with 10 cm of snow.
The first snowfall in living memory in the area was on December 28, 2004, the National reports.