Breathtaking photos of the snow-capped Sahara desert are wowing the internet
Mesmerizing photos of the snow-capped Sahara Desert in northwestern Algeria have taken the internet by storm. Temperatures in the hottest desert in Algeria’s Naama province, in the northern part of the Sahara and near the Moroccan border, have dropped below zero after snowfall earlier this month.
One of the towns, Ain Sefra, known as the gateway to the Sahara Desert, witnessed a light dusting of snow. According to BBC Weather’s Nicky Berry on Wednesday, temperatures in Ain Sefra have fallen below -2 for the past three nights. Berry added that it was only a few degrees colder than average for this time of year.
Netizens went gaga over the images of stunning ice crystal patterns in the red sand dunes.
Here are the photos and videos of snowfall in the Sahara Desert:
Fifth time in 42 years! Sahara desert covered in snow An interesting natural phenomenon has been encountered in the Sahara desert. It snowed in the desert, which reached a temperature of 58 degrees in summer. With snowfalls in 1979, 2016, 2018 and 2021, this rare.. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/u5BThStE06
— Green Planet Magazine (@GreenPlanetMag1) January 20, 2022
Snow has fallen in the Sahara desert in northwest Algeria for the 5th time in 42 years 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/R82mg6G07H
— African Hub (@TheAfrican_Hub) January 19, 2022
Rare snowfall in the Sahara Desert covers sand dunes in ice
Known primarily for being a scorching, sandy wasteland, part of the Sahara Desert has been transformed into a frozen winter wonderland. pic.twitter.com/NrToLnVKoa
— Marcelle (@marseelee) January 19, 2022
One of the stunning images from ‘Snowfall in the Sahara Desert’ available on the BBC News website today! pic.twitter.com/jXzF1gVwLT
— Chorister9retired (@Chorister9) January 19, 2022
The desert also saw snowfall in 2021, 2018, 2017 and 2016. However, the snowfall on the red sand dunes in December 2016 took everyone by surprise. The BBC quoted residents of Ain Sefra as saying they saw snow in 2016 for the first time since 1979.
Regarding the snowfall in the desert, a spokeswoman for Britain’s Met Office had earlier said, quoted by the Independent, that it was “unusual but not unheard of”.
According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations in 2018, the identification of the extreme climate in the Sahara region has been hampered by the lack of data and scientific studies. According to The Independent, hotter, drier conditions and changing weather patterns due to Africa’s climate crisis are leading to increased desertification of the Sahara Desert.