Rare snowfall blankets the Taklimakan Desert of northwest China’s Xinjiang
Image credit: CGTN
A rare snowfall blanketed the Taklimakan Desert of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on January 17, 2023, creating picturesque winter scenery and impressing local residents and visitors. The Taklimakan Desert is the largest desert in China and the second-largest shifting-sand desert in the world.
The cold snap caused the rolling desert dunes to turn into snow-capped mountains, creating a “frozen” winter wonderland with snow covering the branches of sparse trees and enlivening the vast desert. The snowfall helped the desert present special colors across the area.
“I saw the snow-covered desert many years ago, but this time it is even more spectacular and fantastic. Today, I’m very excited and have recorded the most beautiful scenery with my phone,” said Wen Yongli, a resident in Qiemo County.1
As the air temperature rose at noon, the white snow began to melt, revealing the natural color of the sand dunes on the sunny side of the Tarim Populus Euphratica National Forest Park, while the snow that did not melt on the shady side created streamlined ripples with the rolling sand dunes.
A similar event occurred in the Taklimakan Desert on November 28, 2021:
References:
1 Snow-covered Taklimakan Desert offers picturesque scenery – CGTN – January 21, 2023
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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