The low-pressure system propelled the dust along before it finally made its way back to the ground over parts of Eastern Europe, said Martin Bowles, an expert with the Met Office, Britain's meteorological service.

While Bowles said it wasn't clear whether the dust blended with the snow in the air or on the ground, Roys said that both appeared to have been stirred together in the atmosphere.

"Very rarely do we see dust being pulled up into and mixing and falling with snow in the wintertime," he said.

But while that particular combination with white snow may be uncommon, there's nothing new about sandy dust making its way into the atmosphere.

"It is not unusual for Saharan dust to move into parts of Europe. It happens a few times a year," Bowles wrote in an email. "Indeed, here in the UK, we have occasional days (about once or twice a year) where our cars get a light covering of dust originating from the Sahara."

Last fall, the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia tinted the sky and sun red when it dragged tropical air and dust up from the Sahara, the BBC reported at the time.

Other parts of the world are familiar with the phenomena, too.

The police in Queensland, shared photos last month of a dust storm darkening the skies over the town of Charleville, for example.

And more Saharan dust is expected to enter the atmosphere over the coming week, Bowles said, though changing conditions over the Mediterranean make it unlikely that the dust will make its way north this time around.

New York Times