Earth
Does it ever snow in the Sahara desert?
The short answer
Yes. The town of Ain Sefra in Algeria, known as the gateway to the desert, has had snow settle on its red dunes repeatedly — most famously in December 2016, the first snowfall there since 1979, and several times since.
Ain Sefra sits at around a thousand metres of elevation on the northern edge of the Sahara, which is the combination that makes it possible: high enough and far enough north for a winter cold snap to occasionally bring the temperature down where snow can survive the fall.
The December 2016 event was the one that travelled. Amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata shot the red dunes patched with white, and the images went everywhere — partly because it was the first snowfall there in 37 years.
It has stopped being a once-in-a-generation event. Snow has been observed in the region repeatedly since 2016, including in January 2025 and again in January 2026. That is either a delightful fact or a mildly ominous one, depending on how closely you read it.