Orange dunes striped with white snow are a wonderful double take. In December 2016, photographer Karim Bouchetata captured that contrast near Aïn Séfra in Algeria, where a rare snowfall briefly gave the desert edge a very different appearance.
The event took place on December 19, 2016. These are photographs from that snowfall, rather than images of a new storm. NASA Earth Observatory’s contemporary account places Aïn Séfra between the Atlas Mountains and the northern edge of the Sahara.
The story behind the snow-covered dunes
What makes Bouchetata’s images so appealing is how much colour survives the snowfall. Orange sand remains visible between the pale streaks, so the curves of the dunes become easier to follow. In the wider frames, the darker hills add a third layer to the scene.
The gallery also moves beyond an isolated sand pattern: buildings, vegetation and surrounding slopes put the snowfall back into a lived-in landscape. The photographer’s original public account is the creator reference supplied with the archive.
What did “the first time in 37 years” actually mean?
The widely repeated claim referred to a local record, not to every part of the Sahara. NASA’s 2016 report identified February 1979 as the previous recorded snowfall in Aïn Séfra. Expanding that statement to “no snow anywhere in the Sahara for 37 years” changes its meaning and makes the headline misleading.
Location matters in weather stories. A desert covers a large area with different elevations and local conditions; one town’s record cannot describe every mountain or dune within it.
Yes, snow returned after 2016
NASA documented another snowfall near Aïn Séfra in January 2018, including satellite imagery of white mountain tops and dune crests. Separately, Copernicus recorded snowy peaks near Benzireg in January 2023, elsewhere in northwestern Algeria.
Those later observations are separate events and places. They add context to the 2016 gallery; they do not change the date of the photographs shown here.
How can a desert receive snow?
“Desert” describes a climate with very little precipitation, rather than a guarantee of constant heat. Snow still needs suitable cold conditions and moisture. The Copernicus account notes that snowfall in this dry region is unusual and that snow at lower elevations often melts quickly.
That brief overlap is part of what makes the photographs special. The landscape does not need to turn completely white: a light covering can pick out a dune’s shape and reveal details that a familiar sunny view might hide.
For another weather event that changes a famous landscape, explore how a Grand Canyon cloud inversion fills the canyon with fog. And for snow with rather more movement, revisit the 2017 Amtrak snow-wave video from Rhinecliff.
Photographs: Karim Bouchetata; the original collection also credited Geoff Robinson Photography. Weather context: NASA Earth Observatory and the European Union’s Copernicus programme.
A rare local event is not a description of the whole Sahara
The place name matters as much as the contrast of colours. These photographs concern the area around Aïn Séfra in Algeria, not a snowfall covering the entire Sahara. A vast desert includes differences in elevation and local weather, so an unusual event in one location should not be expanded into a claim about every part of it.
The December 2016 pictures also belong to a dated sequence of reported snow events. Keeping that date beside the photographs prevents the old “first in 37 years” headline from being mistaken for news about this winter. Later snowfall does not diminish the value of Bouchetata’s images; it changes how the event should be introduced.
Look along the boundary between snow and exposed sand rather than only at the widest white-and-orange view. Thin patches let the dune's texture show through, while fuller stripes emphasise its curves. In a closer frame, those edges can become the main subject; in a wider one, hills and buildings place them within the landscape around Aïn Séfra. The two scales complement each other. Bouchetata's photographs are memorable because a temporary covering changes how familiar forms can be read, with the December 2016 date identifying the particular encounter rather than claiming every later winter repeated it.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Geoff Robinson Photography
- NASA Earth Observatory’s contemporary account
- another snowfall near Aïn Séfra in January 2018
- Copernicus recorded snowy peaks near Benzireg in January 2023
- Grand Canyon cloud inversion fills the canyon with fog
- 2017 Amtrak snow-wave video from Rhinecliff
Current reference information, checked 15 September 2026:
Beautiful. Don't know this was possible.
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ReplyDeleteGreat important post, where you make the main focus, really makes me happy for its necessary of importance.
After all it is a great article with everything. Thanks in advance for posting it.
Beautiful. Don't know this was possible.
ReplyDeleteThat’s incredible—seeing snow in the Sahara must feel almost unreal. The contrast of white snow on desert sand sounds beautiful, and it’s amazing someone was there to capture it. Nature really knows how to surprise us sometimes!
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