Rare Snow Blankets Atacama Desert

Aug 28 ETDeveloping

Science Desk

In Short: Snow was observed in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert, a rare event captured by NASA's satellite imagery.

Rare, Widespread Snow in the Atacama Desert (1280714 - wide tmo 20260819) — Photo: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Snow recently blanketed the Atacama Desert, an event rarely seen in this hyper-arid region, according to NASA's satellite imagery. The image, taken by the MODIS on NASA's Terra satellite on August 19, shows snow extending from the Andes across the desert's core and close to the Pacific coast south of Antofagasta, Chile.

Meteorologist Garreaud noted that the totals reached a magnitude 'rarely seen in the otherwise extremely arid region,' highlighting the unusual nature of this weather phenomenon.

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This image, captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Terra satellite on August 19, shows snow extending westward from the Andes, across the desert’s hyper-arid core, and close…
Totals reached a magnitude “rarely seen in the otherwise extremely arid region,” Garreaud said.

Sources

NASA Science (.gov)link