Unusual Winter Storms Bring Rare Snowfall to Chile's Atacama Desert

Northern Chile experienced a rare meteorological event in August 2026 as back-to-back winter storms blanketed the Atacama Desert in snow. While the region has seen isolated snowfall in previous years, such as 2011 and 2025, the recent storms were notable for their geographic reach, extending from the Andes mountains toward the Pacific coastline.

Satellite imagery from NASA’s Landsat 8, Landsat 9, and Terra satellites documented the progression of the weather systems. The storms forced the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) on the Chajnantor plateau to suspend operations and transition its antennas into a protective survival mode due to high winds and snow accumulation. Other observatories located near the coast south of Antofagasta also reported operational pauses.

Atmospheric scientist René Garreaud of the University of Chile explained that the precipitation was driven by cutoff low-pressure systems. The late-August event was particularly significant because it originated from an unusually large atmospheric trough that stretched from the southern tip of South America into the subtropics. This system, combined with coastal moisture, resulted in precipitation levels described by Garreaud as "rarely seen in the otherwise extremely arid region."

The impact was not limited to snow; coastal areas like Taltal received nearly 40 millimeters of rain over three days, roughly ten times the location's annual average. The resulting flash flooding and mudflows caused significant damage to hundreds of homes and affected thousands of residents, according to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED).

Experts attribute the wet winter conditions to the influence of a strengthening El Niño. This climate pattern weakens the subtropical Pacific high—which typically maintains the desert's aridity—and shifts the Southern Hemisphere storm track toward the equator. This shift has contributed to a series of significant weather events in northern and north-central Chile throughout the winter of 2026.

Source: NASA