2008 Afghanistan Blizzard
When you think of Afghanistan, you probably don’t think of snow. The Central-South Asian country actually experiences heavy snowfall in the winter—up to 40 inches of snow at the mountain peaks. But in just one day, the country experienced snowfall that was more than three times greater than the national yearly average.
In 2008, a fierce blizzard left nearly everyone in the mountainous regions blinded by pure whiteness and took the lives of nearly 1,000 people. But the livestock that lived in the mountains suffered the most. More than 100,000 sheep and goats perished, along with 315,000 cattle. Hospitals were packed with people who needed frostbite amputations after walking barefoot in the freezing temperature.