How rare rains have changed the face of the Sahara Desert

By Sylvia Chebet

A surprise splash in the Sahara Desert has left striking images of water gushing through the sands in southeastern Morocco, nourishing one of the world's driest regions.

The rare deluge flattened the undulating hills of sand dunes, creating a new landscape featuring lagoons of water amid the scanty palm trees.

Four-wheel drive vehicles motored through the puddles as tourists and residents surveyed the scene in awe.

"The recent torrential rains that have affected much of the Sahel and the Sahara are an unusual meteorological phenomenon that highlights the increasing impacts of climate change on rainfall patterns in typically arid regions." Houssine Youabeb of Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology, told TRT Afrika.

Saharan spectacle

"Traditionally, these regions are marked by low and irregular rainfall, often concentrated in short periods and associated with precise seasons."

The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 250 millimetres annually, including Tata, one of the hit hardest areas.

“It’s been 30 to 50 years since we’ve had this much rain in such a short space of time," Youabeb noted.

The torrential rains observed from September 6 - 9 and 19 -22 illustrate a notable change according to weather experts.

They say amounts of precipitation recorded, varying from 50 mm-130 mm in just 24 hours, largely exceed seasonal averages.

"Furthermore, the unusual northward movement of the 'inter-tropical front', which brought rainfall exceeding 200 mm in 48 hours in early September, represents a considerable anomaly, as it exceeds the usual annual precipitation for these arid regions."

NASA satellites showed water rushing in to fill Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for more than 50 years.

Extratropical storm

Such rains, which meteorologists describe as extratropical storm, may change the course of the region's weather in months and years to come as the air retains more moisture, causing more evaporation and drawing more storms.

"They have helped recharge groundwater and springs, revitalizing oases and supporting local ecosystems," Youabeb explained, noting: "Lake Iriqui ... has filled again, and dams like that of Oued Zaza have reached their maximum capacity."

The region's dammed reservoirs reported refilling at record rates throughout September.

However, after six consequtive years of drought, it's unclear how far September's rains will go toward alleviating effects caused by the long dry spell.

The deluge has however left more than 20 dead in Morocco and Algeria and damaged crops forcing the government to allocate emergency relief funds, including in some areas affected by last year's earthquake

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