New Years: 179 mph Wind, I Got Snow in Low Places

UPDATE: On January 11, snow fell in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Although not unprecedented, it did not snow there in 2014.

ORIGINAL BLOG: The last few days of 2014 and the first week of 2015 resulted in snow in locations unusually far south in latitude. On December 30, snow and thunderstorms were reported in northern Algeria, Africa:

The next day, snow -- graupel, by the looks of it, which officially counts as snow in the U.S. (of course, so does hail), fell for the first time ever in Malta, a tiny island in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Libya. Blog reader Clinton took this video:

Meanwhile, in the U.S. (image: U.S. Snow & Ice spotter reports Dec. 31-Jan. 2)... a powerhouse storm was moving into the Southwest, causing a 179-mph wind gust at Mammoth Mountain, CA.

During the day on December 31, 2014, snow fell in southern California:

The forecast called for the possibility of snow in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve -- something that hadn't happened since 1974. They ranked #4 for lowest midnight temperature, and recorded a trace of snow in their official records.: "...THE LAS VEGAS NV CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 31 2014... THE FOLLOWING WEATHER WAS RECORDED... LIGHT SNOW."

On the morning of New Year's Day 2015, 82.4% of the nation was below freezing. The frozen precip moved east into northern Mexico and Texas, causing a Winter Storm Warning for central TX.

On January 5th, a full-fledged blizzard was projected for Turkey:

By January 7th, feet of snow had been reported and incredible photos made it to Social Media:

And finally last but not least January 8th, snow was reported in Jacksonville, Florida.