It hasn't happened for 10 years: the world's driest desert has woken up... in the snow
Steph Deschamps / June 27, 2025
In a statement, however, the observatory pointed out that snowfalls are a regular occurrence “on the Chajnantor plain”, higher up, at an altitude of over 5,000 meters and some twenty kilometers from the site affected by the snowfall, where it also has facilities.
Snowfalls like this are infrequent, but it's still early to say they're an effect of climate change, says climatologist Raul Cordero. However, “climate models suggest that this type of event, i.e. precipitation in the Atacama Desert, should increase over time”, he added.
Chile's Atacama Desert, the driest and most arid on the planet, is home to telescopes from over thirty countries, including some of the world's most advanced astronomical instruments, such as the ALMA observatory, the most powerful radio telescope on the planet.
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