Atacama Desert covered in snow following rare winter storms

A rare series of winter storms has covered significant portions of Chile’s Atacama Desert in snow. NASA satellite imagery from Landsat 8 and 9 captured the transformation of the typically barren, arid landscape into a white expanse.

The weather event was driven by an unusual combination of atmospheric factors, including a cutoff low-pressure system and an unusually large trough across the Southern Hemisphere, which allowed moisture to reach the extremely dry interior of the desert. The storms extended from the high Andes toward the Pacific coast near Antofagasta.

The snowfall and heavy winds forced the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory to temporarily suspend operations and place its antennas in a protective mode to prevent damage. In some areas, such as Taltal, the storms also produced extraordinary rainfall, recording amounts significantly higher than the annual average.