The latest snowfall in Ain Sefra turned the entire place into a snow kingdom when the snow started to cover the desert. Children for the first time ever experienced the snow and apparently loved it.
Ain Sefra in western Algeria has never experienced snow since 1979. Recently, the Sahara Desert recorded the massive snowfall after a freak winter storm in Algeria. Ain Sefra is blanketed by at least a meter deep snow. The snow started to fall just before the holidays when few snowflakes started to cover the red sand dunes. Ain Sefra is bordered by the Atlas Mountains and is popularly known as the gateway to the desert.
But the snow has been falling progressively and is now waist deep in some parts of Ain Sefra. The snow has caused confusion in the town, with commuters stranded on buses after the roads became slippery and icy. Mirror reported that children in Ain Sefra are making the most of the snow and are building snowmen in the desert town and sleighing down the sand dunes for the first time in their lives.
Ain Sefra is the last civilization before the Sahara, which expands out for thousands of miles to the south. Snow has not been experienced Ain Sefra since February 18, 1979, during which they had a flurry which lasted for only 30 minutes. Ain Sefra, not distant from the Moroccan border, is approximately 1,000 meters above sea level.
The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through changes in temperature and moisture over the past hundred thousand years. Although the Sahara is very dry at present, it is expected to become verdant again in about 15000 years. The snow in Ain Sefra comes only days after 2016 was reported to have set records for being the hottest year in history, says Daily Mail.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
