 Most of the East Bank receives less than of rain a year and may be classified as a dry desert or steppe region.Where the ground rises to form the highlands east of the Jordan Valley, precipitation increases to around in the south and or more in the north.The Jordan Valley, lying in the lee of high ground on the West Bank, forms a narrow climatic zone that annually receives up to of rain in the northern reaches; rain dwindles to less than at the head of the Dead Sea.