Extreme weather can mean different things for different people, depending on the context of what one is accustomed to. In the case of very hot places in the world, such as much of Iraq, it can mean snowfall. Yet this is what Baghdad just experienced, making it the second snowfall in a century.
Residents of Baghdad rushed to have snowball fights or take photographs Tuesday as the Iraqi capital woke carpeted in white by only its second snowfall in a century.
The last recorded snowfall in the city was in 2008, but it was a quick and mostly slushy affair — and prior to that, it had been a century since Baghdad saw any flakes.
Iraqis young and old said it was the first time they had ever seen snow falling in Baghdad.
The city’s iconic palm trees were daintily outlined in white, and the tarpaulins of the long-running anti-government protest camp in Tahrir Square in the city centre were sprinkled with snow.
People on their way to work stopped their cars to snap pictures or break out into impromptu snowball fights.
“Snowfall may continue until Wednesday given the very cold weather,” said Amer al-Jaberi, media head of the Iraqi Meteorological Centre.
“This cold wave came from Europe,” he told AFP. (source)