Fact-Check: Did Jos Experience Winter Snowfall Following a Heavy Downpour?
Claim: A viral video circulating on social media depicts a woman surrounded by what appears to be snowfall, collecting ice from the ground after a heavy downpour. The footage is claimed to have been recorded in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria.
The post is captioned: “Snow in Jos, Plateau State. Winter in Nigeria? AMAZING! Climate change is real,” suggesting the occurrence of a winter-like event in Nigeria and attributing it to climate change.
In the video, the woman is seen excitedly describing a “winter” experience, scooping what resembles snow as several onlookers, including motorists, gather around.
Verification: To verify the authenticity of the claim, PRNigeria traced the origin of the video, which began trending online around April 21, 2025.
Subsequently, PRNigeria reviewed official weather reports for Jos between April 21 and April 29, 2025. The forecasts indicated clear to partly cloudy conditions, with temperatures ranging from 24°C to 30°C. There were no recorded instances of snowfall or any severe rainstorm during that period.
Further analysis included reverse image searches of key frames from the video. These revealed that the footage originated from Cameroon. It was previously posted by a Facebook page, NexDim Empire, which promotes Cameroonian entertainment and has over 234,000 followers.
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Commenters on the post, many of whom were verified as Cameroonians, expressed concern over the potential damage to their crops from the hailstorm. For instance, one user, Terry Mcberi, wrote:
“Hailstones wey di fall di destroy crops mbut people dey glad, small time wuna go say farming season no be fine.”
Keyword searches by PRNigeria corroborated earlier findings, confirming the location as Aba Banki Tungoh in Cameroon’s Northwest region,an English-speaking area.
Snow in Jos Historicaly
While snowfall in Jos is extremely rare due to its tropical climate, there have been isolated reports of frost or light snow at higher altitudes. The most notable instance occurred in December 1991, when light snow reportedly fell in the area, drawing significant public interest.
Conclusion: Findings by PRNigeria reveal that the video in question originated from Cameroon in the Aba Banki Tungoh area of the country, not Jos, Nigeria. The claim that it depicts winter in Jos caused by climate change is not true.
Verdict: PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claim that winter like hailstorm occurred in Jos, caused by climate change is FALSE.
By PRNigeria
