A new snowfall accompanied by winds of 90 km/h (55 mph) reached the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert on August 18, 2026, keeping astronomical observations suspended at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The antennas remained in survival mode as winter weather continued to affect high-altitude roads, border crossings and communities across northern Chile.
Snow blanketed Chile’s Atacama Desert on June 26, 2025, disrupting transport and closing schools across Tarapacá, Antofagasta, and Atacama regions.
A rare August snowfall blanketed swathes of Chile's Atacama desert on August 25, 2021, with parts of it reportedly receiving as much as 82 cm (32 inches). "This does not occur yearly. Maybe a relatively important snowfall like the one today can happen…
At least 10 people have been killed by catastrophic floods in northern regions of Chile after thunderstorms brought the equivalent of 7 years of rain in just 12 hours on March 26. Search and rescue operations are still in progress and authorities fear the number of casu
One of the driest places on the planet got a wintry blast this week. The Atacama Desert region in Chile was coated with its heaviest snow cover in nearly two decades, the BBC reported. An estimated 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) piled up in the normally arid
