The first snowfall and accumulation of the season is quite beautiful. Everything is clean, white and pure. But snow in a desert is not a common sight! The residents in an Algerian town saw something unusual to the normal daily environment. Snow started falling in the early hours of January 7th morning. Such an incident has taken place only the third time in 40 years after a freak winter storm hit the area leaving the town of Ain Sefra in Algeria covered in snow. The Algerian town Ain Sefra which is also known as the gateway to the Sahara saw an inch or two of snow, while the sand dunes were covered in the icy blanket.

According to the media reports, the people of the town enjoyed sliding before the snowfall that melted away by the afternoon. Children took full advantage of the situation to compete with each other by sliding down the slope.

A local resident Karim Bouchetata took a camera and photographed his town and the surrounding mountains. It was a thrilling experience for the spectators seeing icy gemstones on Sahara desert's elegant golden hues.

In one of the media report, Karim was quoted saying, “People were very happy, children played in the snow and everyone was taking photos. The view was beautiful. Snow white on the golden dunes and mountains of the area.” Locals posted photos on social media of the orange sand poking beneath the white blanket. “The city is topped by dunes, followed by the forest and the mountain,” he further added.

The region witnessed a similar flurry of snow in January 2017, so much so that the children made snowmen and sleighed down the sand dunes. Media reports also suggest that in the year 2016 a metre of snow fell in the area. Prior to that, the snow fell for just 30 minutes in the month of February 1979. It is incredible to see such low temperatures in the town. Ain Sefra experiences average high temperatures of over 37C in summer and have seen record lows of -10.20C in winter. This incident serves as a plain reminder of the changing nature of world’s climate.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2018 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).