Rare Sahara Desert Snow in Algeria

Snowflakes had been seen briefly only once in recorded history in the Sahara Desert at Ain Sefra, Algeria, and that was in 1979 -- until this Monday. This time, snow fell all day and accumulated on the ground. These photos from Karim Bouchetata tell the story:

There are no official weather stations in that town, but this is the weather map (GFS Initialization) for Tuesday morning, showing temperatures of 35 degrees in the area.

Farther north in Algeria and Morocco, temperatures were below freezing. Snow is unusual, but not rare, in those areas. A map of low temperatures this month in the region shows 37 at Bechar Ouakda Airport, to the Southwest of Ain Sefra, but 30 to the north and west.

AccuWeather