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Those viral pictures of snow in the region of Ouerzazate and Zagora are real, but behind those beautiful dunes covered with snow, the truth is more complex. By the beginning of this week, the National Directorate of Meteorology issued a special memo informing that it would snow in several parts of the Kingdom including the southeastern regions known for their desert hot springs weather.
The inhabitants of the two provinces shared photos and videos of the snow on social media, surprised by the unusual fall. However, their photos showed only the full half of the glass. Accustomed to a hot weather, the snowfall had also a dark side to it.
Closed roads near Ouerzazate
This was confirmed by Zoubir Bouhoute, president of the Ouerzazate Tourism Provincial Council while on the phone with Yabiladi. The official stated that «many roads in the province have been closed because of the heavy snow». Surrounded by several small villages, Bouhoute indicated that the Tizi n’Tichka road, which links the south-east of Marrakech-Safi region to the city of Ouerzazate through the High Atlas mountains has been affected by the snowy weather.
Houses covered with snow in the commune of Aflandar near Zagora./Ph. Mohamed Cherkaoui
«The roads also linking Zagora to Ait Sawen have been closed», he told Yabiladi adding that Sekoura, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from Ouerzazate has also been blocked by the snow.
In addition to these roads, Bouhoute said flights expected to land at the Ouerzazate International airport were either delayed or cancelled because of the same climate phenomenon.
Even the parabolic troughs at the Nour Ourzezate Solar Power Station were covered with snow. «These troughs, accustomed to follow the movement of the sun from dawn to dusk, have stopped moving», clarified the official based in the touristic city.
The clay houses in Zagora
Not far from Ouerzazate, the inhabitants of the Zagora province had to suffer from the bad weather conditions in their own way. Used to the sun and the particularities of the hot weather in their region, people living in Zaouiat Si Cherqui, a commune near Zagora, were surprised by the snow.
Contacted by Yabiladi, Mohamed Cherkaoui, president of Si Cherki association of Solidarity and Develoment, stressed that «it was snowing from 4 in the morning to noon» in his hometown located in Mezguita, a commune near Zagora.
The snowfall was a struggle for the population of the commune who live in houses typically designed for a warmer weather. «Most of the people here reside in clay houses that can't resist snow», he said, adding that «hopefully it was not as intense as in other places like in Ouarzezate otherwise these houses would have collapsed».
Aflandra, a commune in the Zagora province./Ph. Mohamed Cherkaoui
According to Cherkaoui, some of the village inhabitants had to remove snow from their rooftops while others had to deal with leaking roofs. «People here are not used to such weather and if it goes further than that it would definitely affect their daily lives», he explained.
«Hopefully, the kids are on holidays and the schools are mostly located from 2 to 3 kilometers away from our village with the option of going there with a school bus».
Meanwhile in other villages near Zaouiat Si Cherki, roads were closed for hours and blocked by the snow. «The road linking Agdez, a town in mid-southeastern Morocco in the Atlas Mountains, and Ait Sawen has been closed for about 2 to 3 hours», Cherkaoui concluded.
While, the internet is happy to share, like and retweet the photos of snow in the southeastern provinces of the Kingdom, the population there will have to deal with the bad weather, keeping an eye on the forecasts.
