Snow in Saudi Arabia: The Viral Video and Where It Really Snows

Red rock, a patch of white snow and a young man ready to play in it: Mohammed Alobaidan's short clip "This why we don't have snow in Saudi Arabia" turned a rare snowy day into a joke that travelled far beyond the kingdom. The punchline works because most people picture Saudi Arabia as endless hot sand, yet its northern mountains see snow almost every winter.

The Saudi Arabia snow video

The clip was uploaded to YouTube by Mohammed Alobaidan and shared widely in early 2014. It shows a snowy stretch of ground below reddish rock, and the title jokes that what happens next is the reason the country does not get snow. Watch it below.

Video: This why we don't have snow in Saudi Arabia, uploaded by Mohammed Alobaidan.

Where it snows in Saudi Arabia

Snow in Saudi Arabia is real and fairly regular, just limited to the high ground of the north and west. The best-known place is Jabal al-Lawz, the "Almond Mountain", in the north-west of Tabuk Province. Its highest peak rises to about 2,549 m, with figures up to 2,580 m quoted for the range, and Saudipedia notes that snow falls there almost every year.

Other places that turn white in cold spells include:

• Jabal Alaqan and Jabal al-Dhahr in Haql Governorate, also in Tabuk Province
• The Trojena highlands in the mountains of north-western Saudi Arabia
• Al-Jouf, around Sakaka and Dumat al-Jandal
• Arar and Turaif in the Northern Borders region
• Jabal Aja and Jabal Salma near Hail
• The Abha highlands in Asir, in the south-west

Why snow falls in the desert kingdom

Two ingredients make it possible: altitude and cold air from the north. Northern regions such as Tabuk, Al-Jouf and Arar are more exposed to Mediterranean weather systems than the rest of the kingdom. When a cold air mass and moisture arrive together, temperatures on the high ground drop below freezing and rain turns to snow. The Saudi National Center for Meteorology regularly forecasts snow for these areas between December and February, although some winters pass with none.

Some events are memorable. In November 2016 a cold front brought snow to the Northern Borders region, with Turaif falling to about −4 °C, before heavy rain caused flash floods. In January 2018 families drove up Jabal al-Lawz to go sledging, and in recent winters snow on the Tabuk mountains has drawn crowds of day-trippers.

Visiting Jabal al-Lawz in winter

Jabal al-Lawz is reached from the city of Tabuk. In winter, visitors come for the snow, sledging and camping, and all year round for the granite landscape, off-road tours and ancient rock carvings. Check the National Center for Meteorology forecast before driving up: mountain roads can turn icy quickly, and the authorities post patrols on the mountain on snow days.

More snow in warm places

• The December 2013 Eastern Mediterranean Winter Storm: A Full Photo Account
• Snow Swimming: A Winter Stunt Meets a Different Material
• Niseko in January 2014: A Snowy Trip Seen through the Edit
• Janitor’s Revenge: A Snow-Shovelling Visual Joke
• An Icy Path, a Laughing Narrator and a Missed Warning
• An Ice-Covered Stairwell: The Photographs Behind a Temperature Claim