Ashburn, VA

62° F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

62°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel
Special Weather Statement

News / Winter Weather

Snowfall creates unique tiger-striped pattern in desert

Snowfall in a desert? It’s not too unusual in this notably cold landscape, and weather conditions were just right for this stunning spectacle to take shape.

By Thomas Leffler, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Mar. 4, 2022 5:53 PM EDT | Updated Mar. 6, 2022 1:43 AM EDT

Copied

Snow covering sand dunes in the Kumtag Desert in northwestern China resembled a tiger skin in this dramatic drone footage taken on Feb. 26, 2022.

Recent drone footage captured in China’s Kumtag Desert, located in Shanshan County in northwestern China approximately 1,550 miles west of Beijing, created quite a roar with its flashy colorization. The desert is known for its wide array of sand dunes, with "Kumtag" translating into "sand mountain" in a number of languages.

On Feb. 26, the Kumtag’s terrain featured fallen snow melting, making the sand dunes visible amid the snow. The unique view resembles the skin of a tiger, with the white snow giving way to stripes of desert sand.

According to AccuWeather Senior Commodity Meteorologist Dale Mohler, the striped pattern was formed by recent snowfall that was sculpted by wind and sand dunes. Wind blowing snow off the top of dunes exposed the tan-colored sand underneath, with the wind-blown snow “filling in” spots on the downwind side of the dunes.

“This does not appear to be anything unusual as far as the amount of snowfall or the wind speed, but it does show that Mother Nature can be quite an artist, even with little to work with,” Mohler said.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

While normal precipitation is low in the desert, likely less than five inches yearly, according to AccuWeather experts, below-freezing temperatures in the Kumtag region allow fallen snow to stick to the ground for longer.

The Kumtag is situated at a similar latitude to that of Pennsylvania, with four seasons of temperature patterns, making snow part of the local climate in the winter months. The desert is part of the larger Taklamakan desert region, and temperatures can dip below zero degrees Fahrenheit during winter.

This is not the first time the Kumtag has experienced this unique landscape. Photos captured the region covered in snow during this past November.

The system that unloaded the snowfall was likely similar to clippers, which are moisture-starved storms originating from western Canada, and may drop light snow across portions of the northern United States. AccuWeather Meteorologist Jim Andrews said that the snow likely fell on Feb. 17, when the morning low dropped to 17 degrees and the high temperature was 22 degrees in Ürümqi, China, a city that lies about 170 miles to the northwest of the desert.

Due to a stretch of freezing weather in the region that week, the cold allowed the snow to stick around and create the beautiful spectacle.

More to see:

Snow yoga, anyone? It’s become popular with one twist at this farm
Driver seen zooming down road with convertible top down in snowstorm
House almost completely buried under mega-snowdrift

For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Winter Weather

May in the Mile High City: Heavy snowfall forecast for Denver area

May 20, 2022
Hurricane

Chances for a tropical system to form prior to June 1 now waning

May 19, 2022
Weather Forecasts

2 seasons in 2 days as cold air, snow return to central US

May 20, 2022
Climate

4 critical climate indicators raised red flags in 2021

May 19, 2022
Health

Saharan dust cloud over the Atlantic may reach Gulf Coast by weekend

May 19, 2022
Hurricane

Deadly subtropical storm slams southern Brazil, Uruguay

May 19, 2022
Weather Forecasts

AccuWeather's 2022 Europe summer forecast

May 17, 2022
Weather News

Heat wave linked to 3 deaths in Chicago

May 19, 2022
Weather News

Crews battle strong winds to rescue climbers trapped on Mt. Rainier

May 18, 2022
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble through storm-weary Midwest

May 19, 2022
Weather News

Deadly lightning-sparked oil fire caused chaos for 5 days

May 18, 2022
Astronomy

Reports of unidentified objects 'frequent, continuing,' officials find

May 18, 2022
video

Experts say time is running out to protect historic site from sea leve...

May 19, 2022
Health

Collars and chewables to keep your pup free of ticks and fleas

Apr. 28, 2022
Recreation

Try putting one of these on your porch or patio this year

May 12, 2022
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Weather Forecasts

Surge of heat to bring hottest weather since last summer to Northeast

2 hours ago

Weather News

Anti-cyclonic whirlwinds seen on video towering into sunny sky

20 hours ago

Weather News

Jersey Shore drama: Not enough sand at beach ahead of Memorial Day

20 hours ago

Pakistan zoo animals try to stay cool during heat wave

1 day ago 0:43

Podcast: Introducing AccuWeather Premium Plus

More Stories

Featured Topic

Local Arthritis Forecast

Featured Stories

Last moments before Mount St. Helens eruption caught on camera Coolers that'll help you beat the extreme summer heat 16 spring essentials that you shouldn't do without
AccuWeather Winter Weather Snowfall creates unique tiger-striped pattern in desert
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
© 2021 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK