Global warming is definitely taking its toll on the world with the prevalence of the freakishly cold weather in the US. But where a place in the northern hemisphere is prone to such possibilities, can you even contemplate something like that in one of the hottest places on earth?? It has actually snowed in the Sahara desert and this isn’t the first time it has happened.
This is the third time in forty years and twice in the last two years that the Algerian desert town of Ain Sefra has received snow and it isn’t just a few snowflakes. It is a substantial amount of snow making the entire location quite spectacular as scenery goes.
Image source: www.thesun.co.uk
Ain Sefra is a desert town in Algeria called the Gateway to the Sahara. Located at an elevation of 3500 feet, it was founded very recently in 1881 and served as a garrison for French troops. The town is situated in the Algerian province of Naama and is home to approximately 32000 people.
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While it is not unusual for the desert to get extremely cold at night, one can hardly expect snow to fall in the area. However, Ain Sefra has been experiencing freakish weather since 1979 when it snowed for the first time creating headlines around the world
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While a generation remembered the curious conditions of 1979, the present generation was surprised even further with almost 1 meter of snow in December 2016 that blocked roads and highways. Children, of course, were happily making snowmen and sledding for the first time in their lives.
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Residents of Ain Sefra were greeted again with a white blanket of snow almost 15 inches thick on Sunday 7th January 2018. In some places, it was 40 cm deep. Children once again raced and sledded down slopes of sand dunes covered in snow making the geographical nature of the terrain ideal for snow activity
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According to the met office, quite a number of spectacular photos are of the Atlas regions of the Sahara. The Atlas Mountains mark the Atlas Sahara or the northern most edge of the great desert. Thus with the right conditions, it isn’t entirely impossible for snow to fall.
Image source: www.dailymail.co.uk
A met office spokesman said, “It seems like the snowy pictures were taken across the higher areas in the north of the region, towards the Atlas regions, so it’s not surprising that the area would see some snow if the conditions were right.”. However proving the man wrong was images of snow in town areas with kids playing in the blanket that enveloped the town and adults wandering across the nearby dunes to marvel at the sight.
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Because of the extremely cold weather in the northern hemisphere especially over the weekend, cold air pushing southwards into the region of Algerian Sahara may have also brought cold moisture and snow. However on the days that Ain Sefra received snow both in 2016 and last Sunday, the temperature recorded 15 degrees below normal.
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Cold moisture-laden winds were caused by low pressure at high altitudes and which passed over the region. It forced air to rapidly rise and cool creating the exceptionally rare snowfall.
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It almost seemed certain that Ain Sefra would get a white Christmas in December 2016 when its people marveled at the snow which fell on December 19th, 2016. Unfortunately, it lasted just a day or so but not before photographer Karim Boucheta photographed the stunning incident making it a viral phenomenon on social media.
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NASA’s land satellite also captured images of snow on the mountains near Ain Sefra in December 2016. This image was taken southwest of Aien Sefra.
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The scenes of red sand dunes covered in snow in Ain Sefra almost appeared ethereal and looked straight out of a scene from Star Wars.
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The blanket of white snow on the brown sandy desert provided a fantastic visual experience. It almost looks like a huge serving of ice cream with maple syrup covering the area
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That’s exactly what this image conjures up and many of you will agree with me in saying this photo makes you hungry for vanilla with a blob of chocolate.
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Children enjoyed themselves and why they wouldn’t. After years of watching snow in cartoons, movies and news channels of northern countries they finally got to experience snow for the first time in their lives. While the snow blocked traffic, children were busy building snowmen and indulging in snowball fights
Image source: www.express.co.uk
This could well be the rarest sight on earth seeing kids in the Sahara building a snowman. Incidentally, the immense Sahara desert covers 3.5 million sq miles which is approximately the size of France.
Image source: metro.co.uk
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Isn’t this weird to see an area with coconut palms reflective of an oasis in the desert but covered with snow instead? This will be a memorable event for the people of Ain Sefra. Who knows if it will ever snow again?
Image source: www.dailymail.co.uk
This photo was taken further up north presumably near the border of the Atlas Mountains.
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Here again is a sight to behold, a snowman in the Sahara desert. What next will this world witness?
Image source: www.thesun.co.uk
While the entire world marvels at the sight of snowfall in the Sahara, we should be just a wee bit concerned at the weird weather phenomenon’s and extreme climate taking place around the world. Even as the US is reeling under the impact of arctic styled bombs cyclones bringing both flooding and ice, this is a wakeup call that global warming is now is making its presence felt even in more ferocious ways.
Image source: www.dailymail.co.uk