Videos recently circulated on social media showing what appeared to be heavy snowfall over the highlands of Abha, located in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia, quickly captured the public’s attention. The rare and visually striking scenes led many to believe that actual snow had fallen in the city — a phenomenon almost unheard of in this part of the Arabian Peninsula, especially during the summer months.
However, a detailed review by Arab Weather, a trusted regional weather authority, has clarified that the phenomenon witnessed in Abha was not snowfall, but rather a hailstorm — a weather event that, while visually similar to snow, is entirely different in its formation and characteristics.
Snow vs. Hail: What’s the Difference?
To understand the truth behind the footage, it’s important to differentiate between snow and hail, both of which involve frozen water but form under entirely different atmospheric conditions.
- Hail forms when water droplets are lifted by strong thunderstorm updrafts into the extremely cold upper layers of the atmosphere. These droplets freeze around small particles like dust or other ice pellets, forming hard balls or irregular lumps of ice. As they move within the storm clouds, they continue to grow in size before eventually falling to the ground as solid ice chunks. Hail is typically associated with powerful thunderstorms, which are common in mountainous regions during certain seasonal conditions.
- Snow, on the other hand, forms when water vapour in the atmosphere freezes directly into ice crystals, creating delicate, hexagonal structures. For snow to form and reach the ground without melting, temperatures must remain below freezing (0°C or 32°F) from the upper atmosphere all the way to the Earth’s surface. Such conditions are characteristic of cold winter climates, and are generally absent in Saudi Arabia’s southern highlands, particularly in summer.
Why Did It Happen in Abha?
The meteorological explanation provided by experts points to the seasonal monsoon winds that affect parts of southern Saudi Arabia during the summer. These humid winds from the Arabian Sea collide with the elevated terrain of the Asir Mountains, including the Abha region, often leading to dense cloud formation and violent afternoon thunderstorms.
These conditions can produce frequent hailstorms in the region — a relatively common occurrence despite being visually deceptive. When large amounts of hail cover the ground, it can resemble snow, especially in videos or photographs.
Public Reaction and Misinformation
The viral nature of the videos, shared widely across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok, led to confusion and excitement. Many users celebrated what they thought was a historic snowfall in Abha, while others questioned the authenticity of the visuals. Some even speculated about climate change, attributing the supposed snowfall to shifting global weather patterns.
But meteorologists have emphasized that such hailstorms are not unusual in the mountainous regions of southern Saudi Arabia during this time of year and do not indicate any abnormal climate trend.
Conclusion
The scenes from Abha, while stunning, do not depict actual snowfall. Rather, they highlight the region’s unique summer weather dynamics, particularly the interaction between monsoon winds and high terrain. While snow remains a rare and unlikely occurrence in Saudi Arabia outside a few extreme winter events in the north, hailstorms like the one witnessed in Abha are well within the expected weather patterns for the season.
As always, weather experts encourage the public to seek information from verified sources and avoid jumping to conclusions based solely on visual content circulating online.
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