It Wasn't Just United States: Mideast Slammed By Winter, Too

Snow covers old artillery equipment in Syria last week.
Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP

 While many Americans were freezing their tushes off in our record cold snap, people in the Mideast were experiencing basically the same. 

It might not have been as bad there as in the United States, but it was still fairly impressive

Snow covered much of Syria and Lebanon, closing roads and schools, though a Premier League soccer tournament went on in Damascus, despite snow covering the pitch. 

It snowed for the first time in years in Marjayoun in southern Lebanon and in Bayda in northeast Libya, according to ABC News.

The storm, which abruptly ended a warm spell, brought heavy rains, gales and storm surges to many coastal areas. In Lebanon, beachside buildings were submerged in waves as high as 13 feet.   

This episode of wintry weather in the Mideast last week was not nearly as wild as what happened in the United States. But it was partly caused by the same issue. 

A sudden warming in the stratosphere more than a month ago disrupted the polar vortex and broke it apart.   This helped create a very wavy jet stream that in some sections of the world, allowed Arctic air to plunge much further south than usual.