Originally published 2021-01-19.
Yes, it really snowed in Saudi Arabia and Algeria in January 2021. During a cold spell in mid-January, temperatures in parts of both countries dipped a few degrees below freezing. Snow dusted high ground in Saudi Arabia's south-western Asir region, and the Algerian town of Ain Sefra, on the northern edge of the Sahara, woke up to white hills and streets. Photos of camels and dunes under snow spread around the world within hours.
The pictures were genuine, but some of the headlines around them were not. Snow in these places is unusual, not unheard of, and it was certainly not the first freeze in a century. Here is what happened, why deserts can get snow at all, and how a cold week fits with a warming planet.
What happened in January 2021
Around 17 and 18 January 2021, a burst of cold air swept across the Middle East and North Africa. In Saudi Arabia, reported lows were around minus 2°C (28°F). The heaviest dusting fell in Asir, the mountainous province in the south-west of the kingdom, where peaks rise well above 2,000 metres and winters are already the coolest in the country.
Residents drove out to see it, built small snowmen and filmed their children playing in a landscape that normally bakes. In a country where summer afternoons regularly pass 45°C, that contrast made the images irresistible.
Sahara Desert Sees Snow For First Time In Years - Saudi Arabia Covered - https://t.co/23eTbDwCbz pic.twitter.com/RIcifcJH0j
— Radio Nova 100 (@radionova100) January 18, 2021
Across North Africa, Ain Sefra in Algeria recorded temperatures of about minus 3°C, and the surrounding hills and orange sand turned white. Further north and east, much heavier snow fell in Lebanon, Syria and Iran, where mountain areas regularly see deep winter snow; some reports spoke of drifts more than a metre deep in places.
Snow in Saudi Arabia is rare, but not new
Saudi Arabia is one of the hottest countries on Earth, yet it is large and varied. Its north-western highlands near Tabuk, including Jabal al-Lawz, see snow in some winters, and the Asir mountains can get frost and the occasional snowfall. Desert nights in winter are also much colder than visitors expect, because dry air and clear skies let heat escape quickly after sunset.
The idea that this was the first freezing temperature in Saudi Arabia for more than a hundred years does not hold up. Even the capital, Riyadh, has a recorded low of minus 5.4°C in January. A colder-than-normal week is newsworthy; a century-long record would have been something else entirely.
Another figure that circulated, that Saudi Arabia's average January temperature is 20.2°C, is better described as the average daytime high in Riyadh. Night-time lows there average about 9°C, and inland or mountain areas can be far colder.
The country covers about 2.15 million square kilometres, making it the 12th largest in the world, and most of its population of around 35 million lives in cities.
Ain Sefra, the Saharan town that keeps getting snow
Ain Sefra sits in Naâma Province in north-western Algeria, in the Saharan Atlas mountains at roughly 1,000 metres above sea level. Its altitude gives it a cold desert climate: hot summers, but chilly winters. The town is sometimes called the "Gateway to the Sahara".
The first snowfall on record there came on 18 February 1979. Since then it has returned several times, in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. The January 2017 storm was the biggest, leaving snow up to a metre deep in places.
Local photographer Karim Bouchetata has become known for capturing these moments, with images of rippled red dunes streaked with white. His pictures of several of these snowfalls, including the January 2021 one, have been shared widely by international media.
Algeria and Saudi Arabia deserts are covered in snow this January 2021 as temperatures dipped to -2°C pic.twitter.com/HQchXw8hG2
— SᗯᗩᕼIᒪI~ᑭᑌᑎᗪIT (@YussufMwinyi) January 18, 2021
(This post is no longer available on X.)
How can a desert get snow?
A desert is defined by how little rain or snow it gets, not by how hot it is. Antarctica is the largest desert on the planet. For snow to fall anywhere, two things are needed at the same time: cold air near the ground and enough moisture in the clouds.
In winter, a vast dome of cold, dense air called the Siberian High builds over northern Asia. It is a type of anticyclone, a high-pressure system. When it is strong, cold air can spill south and west over Central Asia, Iran and the Middle East. If a low-pressure system carrying moisture, often from the Mediterranean, meets that cold air over high ground, the result can be snow, even in places that normally see none.
Altitude matters too. Air cools by roughly 6.5°C for every 1,000 metres you climb, which is why the snow fell in the mountains of Asir and the hills around Ain Sefra rather than on the hot coastal plains.
Does a cold snap disprove global warming?
No. Weather is what happens over days; climate is the long-term pattern. A single cold week in one region says very little about the global trend, just as one heatwave cannot prove it on its own.
The bigger picture in January 2021 was clear. On 14 January, just days before the snow, NASA reported that 2020 had effectively tied with 2016 as the warmest year in its record, at about 1.02°C above the 1951–1980 average. NOAA's separate analysis placed 2020 a very close second.
Scientists are still studying how a warming Arctic affects the jet stream and winter cold outbreaks; that research is active and not settled. What is well established is that the planet as a whole keeps warming, even while particular places continue to have cold days and occasional freak snowfalls.
How to read viral snow photos
Pictures of snow in the desert go viral almost every winter, and older images are often reshared as new. A few quick checks help:
- Look for a precise place and date. "Snow in Saudi Arabia" is vague; "Asir, 17 January 2021" can be checked.
- Check the altitude. Most desert snow falls on mountains or high plateaus, not on low-lying sand seas.
- Be wary of record claims. "First time in 50 or 100 years" is often an exaggeration. Local weather services and historical records usually tell a more modest story.
- Search the photographer. Credited images, such as Bouchetata's, are easier to trust than anonymous ones.
The January 2021 snowfall was a real and beautiful event, and a good reminder that deserts are far more varied than the stereotype of endless heat.
Sources: Wikipedia: Ain Sefra; Wikipedia: Climate of Saudi Arabia; Wikipedia: Siberian High; NASA, 14 January 2021: 2020 tied for warmest year on record; early reporting by The Sun; Algeria photographs by Karim Bouchetata.
COMMENTS