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Orange Snow in Europe Is Turning Mountains Into Beaches

Samantha Rosen
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Samantha Rosen was one of the first 20 employees at TPG. She started as the site's first full-time social media editor and also served as its lifestyle editor.
March 27, 2018
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5 min read
orange snow russia
Orange Snow in Europe Is Turning Mountains Into Beaches
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Just when you thought this strange, strange world we live in couldn't get any weirder, orange snow is covering mountains and regions of Eastern Europe, including Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine. See for yourself:

If you didn't know any better, you might think this photo was edited in Instagram or Photoshop — but it turns out there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

A post shared by The Guardian (@guardian) on

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgtEOCil65b/?taken-by=slivi4

While it looks like these people are skiing on Mars, they were actually just hit with a sand storm from the Sahara that mixed with cold, rain and snow (if you get that reference, we can be friends).

A post shared by El Norte (@elnorte) on

In fact, this phenomenon happens every five years or so according to the BBC; it's just especially intense this time around.

Meteorologist Steven Keates explained to The Independent that "when it rains or snows, it drags down whatever is up there, if there is sand in the atmosphere."

See? A perfectly reasonable explanation for what looks like the apocalypse.