Snow drapes mountaintops around Sulaymaniyah as residents head outdoors

SULAYMANIYAH — Snowfall on Thursday blanketed the mountainous areas surrounding Sulaymaniyah, particularly Goizha and Azmar, drawing residents outdoors despite limited accumulation within the city itself.

Speaking to 964media, one local resident said, “We came from Sulaymaniyah city center to Goizha, and the snow is beautiful. Even though it’s cold at midday.”

Many people were seen playing in the snow, while others traveled from central and southern Iraq to visit the snow-covered areas.

Goizha Mountain rises immediately northeast of Sulaymaniyah and is one of the closest elevated natural landmarks outside the city limits. Azmar Mountain also overlooks Sulaymaniyah and, along with Goizha, forms part of the mountainous terrain framing the city.

The Iraq’s General Authority for Meteorology said that the country experiences partly to fully cloudy skies Thursday, with chances of light to moderate rain showers accompanied by thunderstorms in various regions. The daily report noted light to moderate snowfall is expected over Kurdistan Region highlands, including lower areas in Sulaymaniyah.

Sulaymaniyah has hot, dry summers and cold, wetter winters. Most rain and snow falls in the late autumn and winter months.

Winters in the Kurdistan Region are notably cooler and wetter than the rest of Iraq, with consistently lower temperatures than in central or southern regions.