Bizarre Wonders: Mesmerizing Photos Of Snow On Sand Dunes Of The Sahara Desert

While January brings snow and cold to many parts of the world, a hot desert receiving snow is unheard of. As bizarre as it might seem, it has actually happened. A blanket of snow covered an area that is close to the desert town of Ain Sefra in Algeria, on January 13, when the mercury fell to -3°C. Take a look at the pictures:

sahara-desert-snow — Instagram/@kaaarimo

The unexpected scenes from the Sahara Desert were captured on film by photographer Karim Bouchetata.

Freak weather made its way to Africa and Middle East with temperatures dipping below the freezing point,

The Sahara desert astonishingly received snow.

sahara-desert-snowfall — Instagram/@kaaarimo

It was for the first time in over half a century that temperatures in the region dropped below the freezing point.

According to a Forbes report, the rare event has occurred just three times in the past 37 years. The previous three snowfalls were in 1979, 2016 and 2017.

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Some parts of Saudi Arabia also received light snowfalls with locals expressing joy and excitement over the rare phenomenon.

The images of camels after a snowfall in the Tabuk region in northwestern Saudi Arabia, are surreal.

The area – which is close to the border with Jordan – experienced unusual weather this month.

In the desert kingdom, people have actually been enjoying this unusual diversion from their normal highs of up to 50C during the hot season and arid weather.

The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousands years.

While it is a known fact that temperatures in deserts can drop dramatically overnight, that usually doesn’t bring with it any ice or snow, at least partially because of the low levels of moisture.