Earlier this week, snow lightly covered parts of the Sahara Desert for the first time in this particular area since February of 1979. The amazing weather phenomenon was captured by local photographer Karim Bouchetata, who witnessed the event just outside of the small Algerian town of Ain Sefra, which lies in the Atlas Mountains on the northern edge of the desert.

Back in February of 1979 when the last ‘major’ snowfall occurred, it was reported to have lasted for 30 minutes. You can see more amazing photos of the rare event on Gizmodo.