Snow Covers Algeria’s Desert as Temperature Plunges

A man looks at at a snow-covered slope in the Sahara, Ain
Sefra, Algeria, January 7, 2018 in this picture obtained from social
mediaCredit: Hamouda Ben Jerad/via REUTERS
A man looks at at a snow-covered slope in the Sahara, Ain Sefra, Algeria, January 7, 2018 in this picture obtained from social mediaCredit: Hamouda Ben Jerad/via REUTERS
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Snow Covers Algeria’s Desert as Temperature Plunges

A man looks at at a snow-covered slope in the Sahara, Ain
Sefra, Algeria, January 7, 2018 in this picture obtained from social
mediaCredit: Hamouda Ben Jerad/via REUTERS
A man looks at at a snow-covered slope in the Sahara, Ain Sefra, Algeria, January 7, 2018 in this picture obtained from social mediaCredit: Hamouda Ben Jerad/via REUTERS

A photographer has captured beautiful images of how snow has blanketed sand dunes in the Sahara Desert as temperature significantly dropped. Ice created stunning patterns, however, there probably wasn’t quite enough to build a life-size snowman or an igloo just yet, The Metro reported.

The area is more commonly known for its hot and dry climate – but very rarely, this striking sight is seen.

Karim Bouchetata took the photos near the town of Ain Sefra in northwest Algeria on Jan. 20, where temperatures fell to -2C. The area is around 1,000 meters above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains, so it has sometimes seen snow before.

Even then, however, the phenomenon is rare – with snow just five times in the last 24 years in 1979, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

Ain Sefra is known as ‘The Gateway to the Desert’. The Sahara Desert covers most of Northern Africa and it has gone through shifts in temperature and moisture over the past few hundred thousand years. Most of the time, the desert is much hotter with an average temperature during the day of 38C – and a heat record of over 50C.

Snow is very rare in the desert because there is not usually enough water in the air for it, even though it can get very cold at night.



Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again
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Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Aloha, Bavaria! Munich Surfers Riding Wild River Wave Again

Surfing enthusiasts have cheered the reopening of a beloved whitewater site in downtown Munich, the German city better known for partying at Oktoberfest than splashing in the waves.

The Eisbach ("ice brook") standing wave in the city's Englischer Garten park was closed after tragedy struck in April when a 33-year-old woman drowned during a nighttime winter surf.

After a safety review and a petition to keep it open, the site -- just a stone's throw from an art museum and shopping streets -- was reopened by authorities in recent weeks.

Putting on a wetsuit and taking a board out of its bag after a day's work, Moritz, 43, said he's a regular at the surf spot on an arm of the Isar river.

"It's amazing. A wave right in the city center is something very special," he said. "I missed it during the closure."

Nearby, surfers performed tricks with virtuosity on the powerful wave, formed by the presence of rocks on the riverbed near a bridge.

"It's completely different from the ocean," said Moritz.

"Even if you know how to surf very well in the sea, you don't necessarily know how to do it here where the water comes from the front and not from behind."

Another surfer, Irina, 34, said she tries to come three times a week, "before work, because it gives you energy".

She finds "the power of the wave is good" and said she feels safe at this unique spot, even if "there are rocks at the bottom and you have to be a little careful when you fall".

A German surfer lost her life during a night session in April after being trapped underwater for nearly 30 minutes, her leash caught on an unidentified object.

Friends and emergency services rushed to help her, but she died a week after her accident.

An investigation found no safety breaches on the part of the city or state, which had always warned surfers to attempt the challenge "at their own risk".

New guidelines have, however, been issued: night surfing is banned between 10:00 pm and 5:30 am, and the minimum age for braving the wave is 14.

Surfers must also use a system that allows their leash to be detached in case of emergency.

These rules are "largely reasonable", said Franz Fasel, head of the local surfers' association IGSM, who said between 3,000 and 5,000 local surfers use the Eisbach site.

"Surfing is simply part of the lifestyle in Munich," he said. "Not just for the surfers themselves, but also for the city's image."

It was not always this way. In the past, the Eisbach wave was entirely natural and surfable only occasionally, for example, when gravel accumulated in the riverbed.

Surfers took matters into their own hands in the 1980s, installing a river crossing and adding objects to improve the wave, not all well received by the authorities.

The site is now promoted by the tourist office as one of Munich's top attractions.

Bavaria's state premier Markus Soeder proudly declared during a recent visit that "Munich is a surfer's paradise" and Bavaria "a bit like the California of Germany".