Snow has coated elements of Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of many driest locations on Earth, in a uncommon burst of winter climate that stretched from the Andes throughout the desert and virtually to the Pacific coast.
The bizarre snowfall got here throughout a collection of storms in August 2026.
Nasa satellite tv for pc photos captured the uncommon transformation, with landscapes which might be usually virtually utterly barren turning white.
The occasion was uncommon not as a result of it snowed in a desert, however due to how far the climate system reached.
A DESERT TURNS WHITE
The Atacama Desert is legendary for its excessive dryness.
A lot in order that some elements of the desert obtain virtually no rain. Some elements of the Atacama are so arid that Nasa has used its Mars-like terrain to check spacecraft and devices.
However simply weeks in the past, in August, a robust sequence of winter storms introduced snow throughout giant elements of northern Chile.
One storm significantly affected the high-altitude Chajnantor plateau, dwelling to the Atacama Giant Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, a serious astronomical observatory.
Heavy snow and robust winds pressured ALMA to droop operations and place its antennas in a protecting mode.
A second storm later in August unfold snow a lot farther west, crossing the arid coronary heart of the Atacama and approaching the Pacific coast close to Antofagasta.
WHY DID IT SNOW IN ATACAMA DESERT?
The reply to the apparent query of why it snowed in a desert lies in an uncommon atmospheric setup.
The storms had been related to a cutoff low, a pocket of low strain that had separated from the primary jet stream.
On this case, it developed from an exceptionally giant trough stretching throughout an unlimited a part of the Southern Hemisphere.
On the similar time, there was considerable moisture close to the Chilean coast. Collectively, these situations allowed rain and snow to achieve areas that usually stay exceptionally dry.
The end result was extraordinary rainfall as nicely.
In Taltal, practically 40 mm of rain fell over three days, roughly 10 occasions town’s common annual rainfall.
The strengthening El Nino additionally offered an essential backdrop.
The local weather phenomenon weakened the subtropical Pacific high-pressure system that usually helps hold the Atacama dry, whereas shifting storm tracks nearer to northern Chile.
SNOW IN DESERTS NOT THAT RARE
It is also true that snow falling in a desert is uncommon, however not unparalleled.
In December 2025, northern Saudi Arabia also saw snowfall, together with within the Tabuk and Hail areas.
On December 17, snow coated the Trojena highlands and elements of Jabal Al-Lawz, the place temperatures fell to round -4°C.
Saudi Arabia’s Nationwide Centre for Meteorology mentioned the situations had been linked to a really chilly air mass and atmospheric instability.
Atacama itself has additionally skilled one other snowstorm in June 2025.
The 2026 occasion, nonetheless, stands out for its sheer attain, displaying how even Earth’s most reliably dry landscapes can often be reworked by an uncommon mixture of chilly air, moisture and atmospheric circulation.
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