Erbil snow delights locals and tourists

It finally snowed in Erbil. People have been waiting for it since 2005. Locals and tourists could not just sit at home and watch. They came out and enjoyed the snow.

“Finally, the waiting paid off,” said Shara Muhsin, a local teacher from Erbil. “Erbil is more beautiful with snow. Snow makes us all happy.” She suddenly stopped talking when one of her friends hit her with a snowball.

The Meteorology and Seismic Monitoring Department in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced that temperature would continue falling below zero degrees Celsius in the Kurdistan Region. 

The KRG’s education ministry suspended school and midterm exams on Thursday in Erbil. Students were happy with the decision.

“We needed this break,” said Lanya Hameed, a Grade 10 student in Erbil. “And we needed to have fresh weather and enjoy its beauty, away from studying.”

Thursday's snowfall was the second wave in the region. The first wave hit other parts of Kurdistan, such as Sulaimani.

For tourists, the snowfall doubled their joyful wintertime in the Kurdistan Region capital.

“Two days ago, we were at Korek Mountain and enjoyed the snow there,” Talal Azzam, a tourist from Baghdad, said. “But today snow came to Erbil, and that was like a dream. I have never seen Erbil with snow. It is like the mountains have moved to downtown.”

The KRG has been cleaning snow from the roads with bulldozers, so people can still drive to their jobs.

Some locals believe that it’s a historic day whenever Erbil sees snow.

“It rarely snows in Erbil, and we always envied other cities such Sulaimani and Duhok and the areas surrounded by mountains,” said Kamaran Ali, a local shop owner from Erbil.

“Today marks history in Erbil, just like other years such as 1992, 2003, 2005, and this year, 2022.”

People forgot about the coldness, and tourists thought the markets would close, but in Erbil’s downtown, everyone has their mobile to take photos and videos to record the historic day.

“When it started snowing last night. We thought that everything would close down and we would not have a chance to go to the Citadel,” Azzam said.

“But here we are at the Citadel, and everyone is enjoying the snow.”