Our Climate Is So Screwed Up, It Rained in the Sahara Desert

Darude Rainstorm

How messed up is planet Earth's climate? It's rain-in-the-Sahara-level messed up, apparently.

As The Associated Press reports, a region of the Sahara Desert in southeastern Morocco last month experienced a surprise deluge of rainstorms, which has transformed some parts of the arid North African landscape into lake-filled oases.

Rain is exceptionally uncommon in the Sahara, which is one of the dryest places on the planet. It's especially uncommon during the late summer season.

Per the AP, the Moroccan government reported that just two days of rain in September surpassed annual averages in areas that usually get less than ten inches of rain per year. One town called Tagounite got nearly four inches in one day — an eye-popping amount of water for the drought-stricken region.

"It's been 30 to 50 years since we've had this much rain in such a short space of time," Houssine Youabeb of the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology told the AP.

Experts are hopeful that the rainwater will replenish the dry region's subterranean aquifers, which locals rely on for water as the region's years-long drought pushes on. And though the rain didn't end the drought by any means, the mysterious weather event marks a welcome respite from the desert's prolonged dry spell — and the palm tree-laced lagoons left in the rains' wake are a site to behold.

Drought Conditions

According to the AP, Youabeb, and others are predicting that the unforeseen storms are likely to significantly alter the area's climate in the long term. That's because such a significant amount of rainfall in such a short period will add a consequential amount of water to the surrounding atmosphere.

That likely means more storms — and with them, hopefully, more lasting water and an eventual end to drought conditions. To that end: in another very bright spot, NASA imagery showed water running towards Lake Iriqui, a lakebed that's been dry for around half a century.

To be sure, the rain was unexpected — and, well, bizarre — and scientists still aren't sure what caused it in the first place.

Tragically, while the rainfall alleviated drought conditions for the time being, the resulting flooding led to the deaths of more than 20 people in Morocco and Algeria.

More on the climate: Climate Change Is Drying Up All the World’s Rivers at an Alarming Rate