Some photos went viral showing the Sahara desert with a light dusting of snow on it. Naturally, those who don’t like fun wanted to point out that the photos could be fake. Sorry to disappoint but the images are 100% real.
As the weather has gotten more and more funky, oddities have been taking place elsewhere. The Washington Post reports that there were places of the desert that were hit with 15 inches of snow. Local photographers and satellites were able to capture the moments, and the internet took the photos spreading them all over the web.
This is what snow looks like in the Sahara desert. ❄️ pic.twitter.com/Vi4vjk3SEs
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 9, 2018
According to atmospheric scientist Mike Kaplan at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, this isn’t just a Sahara issue, it is an entire northern hemisphere issue. The buildup of warm air in the south and cold air in the north gets so extreme that the pattern will break down,” says Kaplan. It is what has led to the flip in weather patterns and led to such a drastic change.
#Landsat8 captures snowfall in #SaharaDesert for third time in 40 yrs. #SaharaSnow 🛰️❄️🏝️ Download #Landsat imagery for free at https://t.co/r0H5NhtYkk pic.twitter.com/Zgm1j2BPOD
— USGS Landsat (@USGSLandsat) January 10, 2018
So, no, those thinking that this is a sign of the apocalypse, they are sorely mistaken. It is just extremely rare with this being the third snowfall on record in the Sahara.
“It just doesn’t happen every year,” Kaplan says. “A year seems like a long time to you and me, but it’s not a long time for the atmosphere.”
