Orange Snow? Rare Phenomenon Strikes Countries Across Globe [Photos]

Snow with an orange-tint has been seen in countries around the globe including Russia, Ukraine and Romania.

The rare occurrence, which only happens once every 5 years, is due to snow and rain mixing with dust that has accumulated in the air from Sahara Desert storms, the BBC reports.

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"Looking at satellite imagery from NASA, it shows a lot of sand and dust in the atmosphere drifting across the Mediterranean," Steven Keates, a weather forecaster at the UK's Met Office, told The Independent. "When it rains or snows, it drags down whatever is up there, if there is sand in the atmosphere."

Although it's happened before, there's more sand now, which has caused people to complain of sand getting in their mouths. In Greece, the desert dust has blanketed the entire country. Greece has the highest concentration of dust in more than a decade, according to The Athens Observatory meteorological service, CNNreports.

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Those who witnessed the rare phenomenon took to social media to document the unusual event.

In February 2007, orange snow which was apparently oily and smelled, was reported in various regions across Siberia.

Although some suggested the snow was discolored due to dust picked up from a desert storm, environmental groups believed otherwise, considering high levels of iron, acids and nitrates were in the snow, according to The Guardian. An exact cause for the mysterious event was never determined.