The phrases that come to mind, such as "when Hell freezes over" are barely enough to describe how rare it is to have snowfall in the Sahara Desert, the largest hot desert on earth. But now it's had two measurable snowfalls in a month.
The latest, 3 days ago, covered the area around Ain Sefra, Algeria with a full metre of snow, a bit over twice as much as fell on ski resorts in the French Alps in the past week. December's snow was less, but it was the first in nearly 40 years, since 1979.
As it does in places not used to it, the snow caused chaos and confusion, with buses and cars stranded on snowy and icy roads—but for children it was an unusual opportunity to build snowmen and slide down the snow-capped dunes. January temperatures in the area are normally about 6°C (45°F); in the summer it's usually around 38°C (101°F).
Here's what the area normally looks like this time of year:
Comments (1)