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Up to 16 inches of snow has fallen on an town in the Sahara desert after a freak winter storm hit the area on Sunday. This is the third time in 37 years that the town of Ain Sefra in Algeria has seen snow cover the red sand dunes of the desert. Snow started falling in the early hours of Sunday morning and it quickly began settling on the sand. While the town saw an inch or two, the sand dunes on its outskirts were covered in snow.

We’ve gotten better, but there are still a lot of calculations at play.How much is it going to snow Thursday? As a meteorologist, the bane of my existence is predicting snow. It is the most difficult forecast I make with dozens of different ways it can go wrong. More troubling, it’s probably the forecast most scrutinized before and after the fact. But why? What is it about snow that makes it so tough to pin down? Though temperatures at ground level are important, the critical numbers for assessing snowfall are much higher up in the atmosphere. We’re looking for ice...

It’s true -- you are not dreaming. For the first time in 28 years, snow fell on the streets of Tallahassee, Florida during rush hour Wednesday morning. The conditions are cold enough for the snow to form, but videos show it quickly melting as it hits the ground. The National Weather Service measured 0.1” of snow/sleet on their rooftop. Roughly 50 miles of Interstate 10 have been closed in Tallahassee due to snow an ice. In lieu of the traditional salt, the unusual weather has prompted Florida Highway Patrol to lay down sand to melt the ice, according to ABC...

For many parts of the nation, a prolonged period of punishing cold is just getting started. The cold snap that descended on much of the nation from the Rockies eastward on Christmas Eve is predicted to become further entrenched and even more biting in the coming days. The worst of the cold may grip the central United States from Saturday through New Year’s Day, when temperatures may fall more than 30 degrees below normal. Then it may spill eastward. As the Arctic air poured over the Great Lakes, it produced astronomical snowfall amounts. An incredible 53 inches of snow piled...

The good news for many in the Northeast and Midwest was that it was a white Christmas. The bad news was that a blizzard swept into parts of New England and bitter cold enveloped much of the Midwest. Erie, Pa., recieved a record 34 inches of snow. NWS Cleveland ✔ @NWSCLE Erie, PA received 34" of snow on Christmas Day! This is a new all-time daily snowfall record. The previous record was 20" set on 11/22/56. For reference, the greatest 3-day snowfall in Erie was 30.2" (12/29-31/2002), greatest 7-day snowfall is 39.8" (12/27/01-1/2/2002) #pawx 1:26 AM - Dec 26, 2017...

Maine is having trouble finding enough snowplow drivers, another sign of the way low unemployment is taxing states. The state Department of Transportation has about 50 openings among about 700 positions and expects 30 snow storms in the season that stretches from mid-November to mid-April. Exacerbating the problem: some cities like Portland hire their own drivers and pay more, and private sector demand for experienced drivers is also high.

Post a seven day forecast for Christmas week at your locale.

And leaves academics stunned. "A study released Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports found that snowfall on the highest peak in the Alaska Range has more than doubled since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th century, which researchers attribute to climate change," Valerie Richardson reported in The Washington Times on December 19, 2017. "We were shocked when we first saw how much snowfall has increased," Erich Osterberg, an assistant professor of earth sciences who led the investigation with researchers from Dartmouth, the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire, stated.

Snowfalls atop an Alaskan mountain range have doubled since the start of the industrial age, evidence that climate change can trigger major increases in regional precipitation, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports on Tuesday. The study by researchers from Dartmouth College, the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire, shows modern snowfall levels in the Alaska Range at the highest in at least 1,200 years, averaging some 18 feet per year from around 8 feet per year from 1600-1840. [Snip] The research was based on an analysis of two ice core samples collected at 13,000...

A TOP university was compared to HITLER on social media after posting a tweet asking students if they were “dreaming of a white campus”. University College London was forced to apologise for referencing Bing Crosby's White Christmas while informing students they would remain open amid snowfall. @LFizzia Replying to @ucl You know who else dreamt of a white campus? Hitler, that’s who. Disgusting This Twitter user compared a university to HITLER after it tweeted asking students if they were 'dreaming of a white campus' ahead of the forecast snowfall Outraged social media users mocked the tweet, branding uni bosses "a...

SNOW-MAGEDDON! Britain paralysed with 50,000 BA passengers stranded, hundreds of schools shut and dangerous icy roads on 'Black Monday' - after lows of -12.2C overnight with WORSE still to come. 'Black Monday' with more snow due and swathes of ice on the roads as temperatures dropped to -8C, Schools across the UK have been shut today after the country was hit by a so-called 'snowbomb' yesterday. Thousands of homes were left without power and Brits faced travel chaos as trains and flights were cancelled. In particular, Birmingham will grind to a halt on Monday after all of its schools will...

ATLANTA. Snow blanketed a vast swath of the Deep South on Friday, triggering a flurry of winter weather warnings that closed businesses and schools, canceled hundreds of flights and caused traffic gridlock. It also unleashed a flurry of snowman construction and sledding in places more accustomed to sunshine than snow. The storm dropped a rare coating of snow as far south as Brownsville, Texas - near the border of Mexico - up through southern Louisiana and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the southern Appalachians. "This is an unusual event - to see snow falling this early in the season...

Much of France is getting its first taste of winter this week, with 50 departments placed on alert for snow and ice. Snow and ice is expected to hit much of France, with national weather agency Météo France placing 50 departments on yellow alert — the third highest warning level. The departments, including nine in Brittany, Normandy and the Pays de la Loire were placed on yellow alert — the third highest warning which advises people to be careful and stay up-to-date with the situation — at 6 am on Wednesday morning. Drivers are warned to be particularly vigilant. “Our...

Southwesterly wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour are forecast to blow across Lake Tahoe Wednesday, churning waves up to three feet high, according to the National Weather Service. This could bring some surfers to the lake's north and northwest shores, says Scott McGuire with the Weather Service's Reno office. "The winds are coming unaffected across the entire length of the lake and it builds up those waves as it moves across," McGuire says. "Southerly winds are ideal but southwesterly still provides a decent fetch." Tahoe's waves aren't nearly as popular as its slopes, but when the winds kick...

A late-November freeze is predicted for Ireland and the UK, and snow is also likely on the way in the coming weeks for the region. According to weather experts, this winter could be one of the coldest on record for Ireland. Snow showers will “engulf” Ireland and the UK in late November, according to a forecast chart on the Express. Piers Corbyn, forecaster for WeatherAction, said: “Apart from some cold snaps, the first half of November is looking relatively average for the time of year with some milder periods. However, during the second half of the month there is a...

The first snows of the season have begun to fall in Germany, as a cold front from the north moves across the country, bringing heavy rain, storms and snowfall at regions over 1,000 meters. The cold polar air has reached the north of Germany and is moving south, bringing heavy showers and the possibility of sleet and one or two storms, DWD predicts. Temperatures will reach highs of 5°C to 11°C, and most of the country will have cloudy skies throughout the day on Friday. There will be a fresh west wind with strong gusts in the north and particularly...

In the winter, when Interstate 70 shuts down at exit 205 due to car crashes or a deluge of snow, Silverthorne police chief John Minor gives his officers the same piece of advice: “You better have your head on a swivel and your head in the game, because it’s about to get a little sporty.” For the officers and state patrollers who ride herd over the chaotic cattle drive of cars and semis during an interstate evacuation, being on high alert means the difference between life and death. “If you’re actually on the interstate staffing that closure just before the...

Chains and winter tires were recommended by Norway’s Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen, NPRA) for motorists traveling on the E6 motorway near Dovre after heavy snow fell in the area this morning. The snowfall comes early in the autumn, when many motorists are still using summer tires. Several centimeters of snow are reported to have fallen in the region on Tuesday night. […] Heavy snowfall was also reported in the Strynefjellet and Sognefjellet areas with “winter conditions” in “all mountain connections in Hedmark and Oppland counties,” according to updates posted by NPRA on Twitter. …

It appears the summer hiking season may be over for another year, as many Swiss alpine resorts saw fresh snow over the weekend. A cold front saw temperatures fall last week and over the weekend, with many places in the lowlands experiencing ground frost. With the snow level dropping to 1,500m and heavy precipitation in many parts, on Monday many alpine resorts woke up to fresh snow on the ground. “Winter is coming, how to resist?” tweeted Verbier, its webcam pictures looking distinctly wintry. Laax, St. Moritz, the Jungfrau region and Crans-Montana were among the other resorts whose webcams showed...

The STORMTracker Weather Team says a major storm system is on track to deliver heavy snow and significant rain to Montana. Cooler air is already spilling south out of Canada and temperatures will get even colder on Thursday and Friday. This storm is expected to be the beginning of the end of fire season across the state.