Atacama, World's Driest Desert, Sees Snow For The First Time In 10 Years | Watch

Last Updated:June 27, 2025, 21:01 IST

For scientists and space researchers, the Atacama Desert isn’t just any stretch of earth, it's Earth’s closest analog to the Moon and Mars

Images and videos from the Atacama Desert went viral after ALMA posted them on social media. (Source: AFP)

The Atacama Desert, known as the driest place on Earth and famed for its alien, Mars-like landscape, stunned scientists and the public alike on Thursday morning when its barren terrain woke up under a rare blanket of snow, a sight not witnessed in over a decade.

Images and videos from the site went viral after ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), the world’s most powerful radio telescope facility located at 9,500 feet above sea level, posted them on social media with a single word, “Unbelievable!" The accompanying footage showed the desert’s rusty, parched expanse transformed into a snow-covered dreamscape. The world’s driest desert is now covered with snow, ALMA wrote, capturing global attention.

The phenomenon, while not entirely unprecedented in the high altitudes of the Andes nearby, such as the 5,000-meter-high Chajnantor Plateau, is highly unusual for the lower desert basin where snow hadn’t touched down in a decade.

Raul Cordero, a climate scientist from the University of Santiago, cautioned against jumping to conclusions about climate change being the direct cause, telling AFP that it was too soon to attribute the snow to climate change but what is clear is that “this type of event, meaning precipitation in the Atacama desert, will likely become more frequent."

Watch the viral video:

For scientists and space researchers, the Atacama Desert isn’t just any stretch of earth, it’s Earth’s closest analog to the Moon and Mars. With one of the clearest and darkest skies on the planet, it’s a prime site for deep-space observation. But this time, the focus wasn’t above; it was what had landed silently overnight: snow.

Even locals, accustomed to seeing only dust and rock, stood awestruck. A terrain often likened to the lunar surface or Martian plains now resembled a frozen wonderland. “It’s like seeing snowfall in Rajasthan," remarked one observer on social media, drawing a parallel to the sheer improbability of the event.

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News world Atacama, World's Driest Desert, Sees Snow For The First Time In 10 Years | Watch