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Extremely Rare Snowfall Blankets The Sand Dunes Of The Sahara

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday January 10 2018, @04:10AM   
from the get-your-snowboards-out dept.

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for cmn32480

The Sahara Desert is famously hot, dry, generally inhospitable and covered in sand as far as the eye can see. It's a little bit more diverse than that in reality, however, with lush green segments dotted along the Nile Valley and scattered in the margins surrounding an extremely arid heart – and, yes, precipitation does fall across the region several times per year.

Snowfall on the sand dunes of the Sahara, however, is a little unexpected.

Source: http://www.iflscience.com/environment/extremely-rare-snowfall-blankets-sand-dunes-sahara/

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Original Submission

• 3 times in 40 years is not "extremely rare" 3 times in 40 years is not "extremely rare" (Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday January 10 2018, @08:32AM (1 child)

  by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Wednesday January 10 2018, @08:32AM (#620388) Homepage

  And let's check where it is - oh, yes, it's in a mountain range: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=9/32.8138/-0.5054&layers=C

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• Re:3 times in 40 years is not "extremely rare" (Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday January 10 2018, @09:22AM

  by frojack (1554) on Wednesday January 10 2018, @09:22AM (#620403) Journal

  Even there, it doesn't look exactly like snow. Looks more like condensate on a cold surface, or "simple frost".

  You can tell how it lays there in patches on higher ground, with bare ground inches away in depressions. That's the exact opposite of snow, which would drift into the lows and be blown off of the high spots.

  So wet sea winds, blown into high country, frosts onto cold surfaces.

     

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