Dust and sand create eerie, 'apocalyptic' scenes at Russian ski resorts
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A bizarre orange and yellow snow phenomenon has been reported at ski resorts in Russia and a few other countries, with tourists posting photos of slopes that look like a science fiction film.
Witnesses have reported that ski slopes have turned into sand dunes as the weird-colored snow has been spotted by tourists in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania as well as Russia.
The snow, which looks almost Martian in its hue, can be blamed on a mix of sand and pollen, according to scientists.
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Pictures and video shared online show ski slopes tinted a strange orange color. Some pictures depict Sochi’s Rosa Khutor ski resort, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics. .
One user said: “Martian landscape, Apocalypse Now.”
Another wrote: “Snowy slopes were transformed into barkhan dunes.”
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Experts from the Sochi Centre of Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Black and Azov Seas were went to takes tests at the resort yesterday, reports the U.K. Sunday Express.
A spokesman for the agency said the cause of the phenomenon was likely winds carrying sand from the Sahara, which then fell as rain.
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However, they also said that things should be back to normal in a few days.
The incident reminded some of the mysterious Siberian snow of 2007, in which a 580-square-mile region was blanketed with snow—in shades of orange, yellow or red—that was first blamed on industrial pollution but was more likely from a sandstorm in neighboring Kazakhstan.