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by Helen Barnett
January 09,
2018
from
Express Website
Snow
has covered the
Sahara
Desert in Ain Sefra, Algeria
Karim
Bouchetata•Geoff Robinson
HEAVY snow
has covered the Sahara Desert
in a freak winter weather
storm.
More than 15 inches (40 cm) has blanketed sand dunes across the
small town of
Aïn Séfra, Algeria.
It is the second time snow has hit in nearly 40 years, with a
dusting also recorded in December 2016. But this snowfall which hit
yesterday, is much deeper than the fleeting shower little more than
a year ago.
Locals, who endure temperatures of 37ºC in summer, were stunned as
dense snow settled on the town, known as 'the gateway to the
desert'.
Photographer Karim
Bouchetata, who captured the remarkable images, said:
"We were really
surprised when we woke up to see snow again. It stayed all day
on Sunday and began melting at around 5pm."
Last year's flurry
brought chaos across the town, with passengers stranded on buses
after the roads became slippery and icy.
Children made snowmen and
even sledged on the sand dunes.
More than 15 inches of snow
has
covered the Sahara Desert town of Ain Sefra
Karim Bouchetata/Geoff Robinson
Before that, snow was last seen in Aïn Séfra on February 18, 1979,
when the snow storm lasted just half an hour.
The cold snap comes as Europe and the United States froze in bitter
temperatures. Winter
Storm Grayson, battering the US
east coast, has seen the sea freeze in Cape Cod, along with the
Niagra Falls in stunning scenes.
A spokesman for the Met Office said this morning:
"Cold air was pulled
down south in to North Africa over the weekend as a result of
high pressure over Europe."
Sahara Desert sand covered in untouched snow
Karim
Bouchetata/Geoff Robinson
The snowfall is the town's second in two years
Snow in the Sahara DesertKarim Bouchetata/Geoff Robinson
This 2016 picture of snow in the Sahara Desert
shows
the vast difference in snowfall this year
Karim Bouchetata/Geoff Robinson
"The high pressure
meant the cold weather extended further south than normal."
Aïn Séfra is about 1,000
meters above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains.
Its average temperature for January is 6ºC, with average lows at
-0.3ºC.
The
Sahara Desert covers most of
Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and
moisture over the past few hundred thousand years.
Although the Sahara is very dry today, it is expected to become
green again in about 15,000 years...!
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