🇯🇴Jordan

Jordan occupies 29°11′–33°22′N in western Asia, a roughly 89,342 km² nation bordering Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Palestine. Three distinct natural zones define the kingdom: the dramatic Jordan Rift Valley, which cradles the Dead Sea at −430 m (the lowest land surface on Earth), the Jordan River, and the Red Sea resort port of Aqaba; the highland plateau west of the Rift, where Amman sits at 850 m alongside the historic towns of Jerash and Karak, forming Jordan's settled heartland; and the vast eastern badia desert, which blankets roughly 80 percent of the country.

Jabal Umm ad Dami rises to 1,854 m near the spectacular sandstone desert of Wadi Rum. This topographic gradient produces a striking climate split: hot-summer Mediterranean (Köppen Csa) on the rain-fed western highlands, grading into hot semi-arid (BSh) and hot desert (BWh) across the eastern badia and southern Aqaba region.

Amman averages 8°C in January and 25°C in August, with 270 mm of rainfall falling almost entirely between November and April; snowfall dusts the capital every few winters, and the legendary January 2013 Storm Alexa dumped more than 30 cm of snow on the highlands. Irbid, at 9°C in January and 26°C in August with 460 mm, is the wettest part of the country. Karak records 10°C and 26°C with 350 mm.

At the southern tip, Aqaba on the Red Sea registers 16°C in January and 31°C in August with a meager 26 mm, making it among the driest sites in Jordan. The Dead Sea shore reaches 17°C and 33°C with 80 mm, while the eastern badia towns of Azraq and Safawi swing from 8°C to 30°C with only 70–100 mm. The all-time temperature range stretches from approximately −15°C recorded at Shoubak in January 1992 to 49.7°C in Aqaba during July 2024.

Jordan faces intensifying climate extremes. The Dead Sea level has declined at approximately 1.2 meters per year, affecting water resources and infrastructure. Recurrent multi-year droughts have stressed agriculture and water supplies across the country. Flash floods in Petra and Wadi Musa occur with increasing frequency; the October 2018 flash flood killed 21 schoolchildren and hundreds of tourists. Eastern Mediterranean dust storms bring severe air quality impacts. Climate change and regional drought continue to intensify pressure on Jordan's limited water resources.

Our archive covers 11 Jordanian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Zarqa, around 32.9°C, while Ṣuwayliḥ records the coldest January nights near 2°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.8°C.2 m/year), recurrent multi-year severe drought, and intensifying flash floods in Petra and Wadi Musa like the catastrophic 2018 Dead Sea event.