Snow blankets Saudi Arabia’s deserts for first time in 30 years
A rare widespread snowfall event affected northern Saudi Arabia in December 2025, transforming desert landscapes and mountain ranges across Tabuk and Hail into snow-covered terrain. The snowfall occurred as a sharp cold air intrusion lowered temperatures below freezing at higher elevations, with snow settling near 2 600 m (8 530 feet) and surface temperatures reported near −4°C (25°F), according to regional media reports. Such widespread snowfall over desert areas is considered exceptionally rare for the region.
Rare snowfall blankets desert terrain near Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia, during a cold wave in December 2025. Credit: X
Snow fell across both mountainous terrain and adjacent desert plains, with accumulation reported near Jabal Al Lawz and surrounding high plateaus. The extent of snow cover, visible on rocky slopes and desert surfaces, marked the first such event across parts of Tabuk in approximately three decades, according to local reports.
The National Center for Meteorology (NMC) issued advisories on Sunday, December 14, warning that the first cold wave of winter would impact large parts of the country later in the week, bringing a sharp temperature drop to northern regions along with rainfall and unstable conditions.
As the cold wave progressed, further updates issued on December 17 suggested an increased likelihood of snowfall in parts of northern and central regions under continued cold conditions. The forecasts coincided with observed weather deterioration, including widespread rainfall, strong winds, and rapidly falling temperatures as the cold air mass advanced southward.
With falling temperatures at higher elevations, precipitation transitioned from rain to snow in several locations. Snowfall extended beyond isolated mountain peaks and reached surrounding desert areas, an uncommon feature for winter events in the region.
Local media outlets described the snowfall as historic, citing the rarity of snow settling across desert landscapes rather than remaining limited to elevated mountainous areas.
At the synoptic scale, the event developed as a deep upper-level trough that extended southward over the Arabian Peninsula, allowing an unusually cold air mass to penetrate into northern Saudi Arabia.
As this cold air interacted with available atmospheric moisture and dynamic uplift associated with the trough, precipitation fell as snow at elevations where temperatures dropped below freezing, briefly extending snow cover beyond the region’s typical climatological limits.
Snowfall in Saudi Arabia is generally restricted to high elevations in the northwest and typically occurs during brief, localized cold episodes.
While snow has been documented in mountainous areas during previous decades, the spatial extent of this event, including accumulation over desert surfaces, places it among the least frequently observed winter weather phenomena in the Kingdom.
According to NMC, the most intense cold wave previously recorded in Saudi Arabia occurred in 1992, when minimum temperatures at the Hail meteorological station dropped to −9.3°C (15.3°F).
Historical records further indicate that in January 1973, a strong Siberian polar outbreak penetrated deep into the Arabian Peninsula, producing snowfall across central Saudi Arabia, with accumulations of up to 20 cm (8 inches) reported in parts of Riyadh.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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