Rare Event! Snow has Fallen in Chile’s Atacama Desert for the First Time in a Decade: After nearly 10 Years, the Barren Sands have Erupted into Vibrant Shades of Violet and White, thanks to Rare Rainfall Triggering the Bloom of Resilient Wildflowers
Marek Kučera 
In an extraordinary and almost surreal weather event, the Atacama Desert, widely regarded as the driest place on Earth, woke up blanketed in snow.
This rare snowfall, which coated parts of northern Chile on Thursday, June 26th 2025, turned the desert’s famously barren, Mars-like terrain into a dreamlike snowscape, stunning residents, scientists, and meteorologists alike.
🌨️“Incredible!” Say Scientists from ALMA Observatory
The ALMA Observatory, located at 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) above sea level in the Atacama region, posted an excited update on X (formerly Twitter):
“INCREDIBLE! The Atacama Desert, the world’s most arid, is COVERED IN SNOW.”
Accompanied by a striking video, the post showed vast desert expanses dusted in white, a phenomenon almost unheard of in this ultra-dry region.
🏜️Why Is It So Rare?
The Atacama Desert typically receives less than 2 millimeters of rainfall annually, and some parts haven’t seen significant precipitation for centuries. Snow in this region is extremely rare, requiring a perfect mix of altitude, atmospheric moisture, and cold air—conditions almost never met in tandem.
Meteorologists believe this unusual snowfall was triggered by:
- A strong cold front moving north from the Andes
- Moisture-laden air masses from the Pacific
- Elevated terrain near the Andes, which allowed for snow instead of rain
❗Why It Matters
While beautiful, this kind of anomalous weather is another reminder of the increasing unpredictability of climate patterns. Chile has experienced both droughts and extreme precipitation in recent years, and even the driest corners of the world are now being touched by shifting climatic forces.
The snowfall is unlikely to cause major damage in the remote Atacama, but it adds to a growing list of rare meteorological phenomena that would have been almost unimaginable just a generation ago.
📷A Spectacle Few Witness
For the small number of residents, researchers, and photographers present in the region, it was a once-in-a-lifetime sight: snowflakes falling over salt flats, sand dunes, and cacti. Images and videos shared online have gone viral among weather enthusiasts and space agencies, noting the striking visual similarity to icy Martian landscapes.
This unexpected snowfall in the Atacama Desert is more than just a curiosity—it’s a gentle warning from nature that nowhere on Earth is beyond the reach of our changing climate.
Source: MalayMail
