Photos: Rare snow falls in the Sahara Desert for the 4th time since 1979
Algeria was hit by a rare storm from a high-pressure system in Europe, which pulled the cold air into Northern Africa.
On Jan. 7, snow fell in one of the hottest places on Earth, blanketing the Sahara Desert north of Algeria’s city of Ain Sefra.
While snow is a rare occurrence in the desert area, a similar snow phenomenon happened last year.
"The Ain Serfa region experienced accumulating snow back on Jan. 21, 2017. Snow also fell over the region in December 2016 and January 2012," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said.
Before 2012, the most recent snowfall in this region appears to have occurred in February 1979.
The desert saw snow due to cold air aloft associated with a surface storm drifting from Spain into northern Algeria.
"The cold pool of air coupled with precipitation from the surface storm led to precipitation falling as snow instead of rain. The same feature responsible for the snow over the Sahara brought the heavy snow to the Alps earlier this week," Nicholls said.
The snowcover melted away by nighttime.
Image via Hamouda ben jerad DZ photography
