Heavy Snow in Lebanon and Syria

From February 17 to 19, 2012, a severe storm blasted the Lebanese coast with 100-kilometer (60-mile) winds and dropped up to 2 meters (7 feet) of snow on parts of the country, news sources said. Temperatures dropped to near freezing along the coast while snowplows struggled to clear the main roadway between Beirut and Damascus.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on February 20, 2012. Snow covers much of Lebanon, and extends across the border with Syria. Another expanse of snow cover occurs just north of the Syria-Jordan border.

Snow in Lebanon is not uncommon and the country is home to ski resorts. Still, this fierce storm may have been part of a larger pattern of cold weather in Europe and north Africa.

1. References

2. The Daily Star. (2012, February 18). Lebanon hit by extreme weather conditions. Accessed February 21, 2012.
3. Naharnet. (2012, February 19). Storm subsides after coating Lebanon in snow. Accessed February 21, 2012.

NASA image courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

Heavy Snow in Lebanon and Syria