Snow falls in Sahara desert for third time in 40 years - here are some pictures

Saharan Atlas dune is seen covered with snow in the outskirts of Ain Safra in the high steppe region of south western Algeria January 25, 2017. For the first time in years, the orange Saharan Atlas dunes near Ain Sefra in the west have been covered by a layer of frozen white."It's been a long time since we experienced such a snowfall," says local resident. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra - RC16ADFBF940

It is hard to visualise a snow-laden sand-desert. The main reason behind this is that it seldom snows there. However, in last 40 years, it has snowed three times in the Sahara desert, and two of the instances have been in last two years.

On Sunday, in the wee hours, the deserts of Sahara received their latest snowfall which blanketed the sand dunes in 40 cm thick snow. The snowfall was observed in the Algerian town of Ain Sefra. Though, the snow melt as the temperature rose later in the day.

Algerian Sahara under snow this morning Breathtaking views pic.twitter.com/3PI6IUraI6

— Fella (@Fella_Bentoumi) January 7, 2018

It snowed for the first time in 40 years in the Sahara. So beautiful, snow and sand. pic.twitter.com/2t3Ja3b3qI — michael zylstra (@Zeddie101) January 9, 2018

Snow in Sahara Desert. Global freezing is real pic.twitter.com/S1xaNRSKhj

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— Mohamed Wehliye (@WehliyeMohamed) January 10, 2018

In January 2017, Saharan Atlas dune was seen covered with snow in the outskirts of Ain Safra in the high steppe region of southwestern Algeria.

For the first time in years, the orange Saharan Atlas dunes near Ain Sefra in the west was covered by a layer of frozen white."It's been a long time since we experienced such a snowfall," said a local resident talking to Reuters then.

Before this, the last recorded snowfall in Sahara desert was in 1979.

The deserts of Saudi Arabia also received snowfall a few days ago. The official news outlet, Saudi Press Agency posted pictures of the snow-laden geography.

أمطار على محافظة#حقل #واس A post shared by وكالة الأنباء السعودية ( واس ) (@spanews) on Jan 5, 2018 at 11:05am PST

A Saudi Engineer on Twitter also posted a picture.

It’s snowing in Saudi. pic.twitter.com/A5KxVv8Bl5

— Dr Jaber Alsiwat (@jsiwat) January 5, 2018

Various parts of the world are reeling under extreme cold and snowfall. Many parts of the US observed record snowfall this winter. Even in India, mountainous regions in the north are white under the snow. 

The snow has started falling again #Gulmargpic.twitter.com/t8QnQdDLOG — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 13, 2017