4 days ago
Unreal contrast: Mount Sakran's snow vs. Iraq's burning cities
Shafaq News
Iraq is enduring one of its hottest summers on record—but on a remote northern mountain, the heat feels worlds away.
Mount Sakran, located in the Juman district of Kurdistan Region's Erbil Province, remains snow-covered and brisk even into late July. While Iraqi cities like Baghdad, Basra, and al-Nasiriyah swelter under temperatures exceeding 50°C, Sakran holds steady between 10 and 20°C. The contrast is so dramatic, it's drawing waves of visitors chasing cold air and cascading waterfalls.
'We arrived today, and it's unreal—the air is icy, and snow still blankets the ground, while it's 48°C back home,' Jassem, a visitor from Baghdad, told Shafaq News.
However, Sakran is more than a seasonal refuge. It represents one of the country's last surviving microclimates, shaped by high altitude, rugged geography, and the shelter of the Zagros Mountains, a major range spanning parts of Iraq, Iran, and Turkiye. Its endurance stands in stark counterpoint to much of the north, where snow cover has steadily vanished over the past two decades.
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According to the Iraqi Meteorological Organization and Seismology (IMOS), rapid snowmelt is disrupting river flows and putting downstream agriculture under increasing pressure. A 2023 report from the UN Environment Programme flagged snowpack loss as one of Iraq's most urgent climate risks.
So far, Mount Sakran resists that trend—its resilience underscoring just how rare such stability has become in Iraq's changing climate.
The sharp temperature divide is sparking more than fascination. Families from the south are making the trek north, desperate for relief from blistering heat and bone-dry cities.
'It's beautiful and freezing here,' Mustafa Ahmed from al-Sulaymaniyah told our agency. 'The weather is so much different from the city.'
