Muscat: Oman’s Jabal Al Shams mountain is capped in beautiful white snow following the rains that lashed the northern parts of the Sultanate three days ago triggering a steep dip in temperatures.
Jabal Shams, which is part of the Al Hajar Mountain range, is situated at an altitude of 3,004 metres above the sea level, the highest peak in the Gulf.
It recorded a temperature of -5C on Tuesday, according to the according to the Meteorology department.
Jabal Al Akdar recorded 1 degree Celsius.
Similar temperatures have been recorded in Jabal Surat, of the Ibri province.
Pictures and videos of snow have gone viral on social media.
“It is freezing here but we are enjoying it,” Ahmad Al Hatali, a resident of Jabal Shams, told Gulf News, said.
The official at the Meteorology Department, told Gulf News that cold weather will continue for the next few days.
In Muscat, the temperature has dipped as low as 19 degrees Celsius.
Two people were killed in flooding due to the heavy rains that lashed the country in the past three days.
Meanwhile, many tourists are camping out in Jabal Shams and Jabal Akdhar in order to have a front-row seat of the scenic snow-capped Jabal Shams mountain.
متداول #ثلوج #جبل_شمس صباح اليوم #الأثنين.
— واجهة عُمان الاخبارية🇴🇲 (@OMAN_NT) December 18, 2017
18 ديسمبر 2017#تصوير عمار#منخفض_الغيثpic.twitter.com/ig9sFFHdSr
The country has been pumping hundreds of millions of riyals into the building of major tourist infrastructure projects to tap into tourism potential.
Oman has set out a plan to attract over 12 million tourists by 2020.
