August 08, 2012

Rare Snows in North Africa

By By Evan Duffey, Meteorologist

August 08, 2012, 3:23:59 AM EDT

Snow made a rare appearance in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria.

Cold air associated with a storm system diving into northern Africa provided for some decent accumulations of snow in the north African country.

RELATED: Rare Snow Shocks South Africa

According to Accuweather Meteorologist Eric Wanenchak, most reports say the last time Algiers saw this kind of accumulation was at least seven years ago in 2005.

He said Algiers must fight a combination of limiting factors in order to see snowfall. First, the city is near the Mediterranean Sea, which is still quite warm, currently in the low 50s.

Youtube user mohsal57 shows snow falling on the tropical trees in Algiers, Algeria.

Second, they are at sea level, and lower elevations generally are warmer and mean more atmosphere that snow has to fall through.

Lastly, they are rather far south. By comparison, they are at a similar latitude as Virginia Beach.

While snow in Algiers is rare, snow to the south in the Atlas Mountains is not as rare. This event should bring more accumulating snow to these mountains to close out the weekend.

However, for Algiers, not too much more in the way of snow can be expected as temperatures have warmed well above freezing.

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