Heavy Rains Have Turned Parts of the Sahara Desert Green

The Sahara Desert is famous as one of the world's driest regions. However, an unusual climatic phenomenon has caused plant life to appear amid the arid environment. 

The NASA Earth Observatory has released some stunning photos of plants flourishing in the Sahara desert after a rare rainfall.

Parts of the Sahara desert turn green following a rare rainfall

On September 7 and 8, an extratropical cyclone flooded much of northern Africa, enabling patches of green to bloom over the Sahara desert, particularly plants and trees in low-lying areas like riverbeds.

Although certain parts of the Sahara get only a few inches of rain each year, NASA's first satellite analysis finds rainfall accumulations of up to half a foot in the impacted areas.

Rare rainfall in the Sahara desert

The storm system's northward movement caused the unexpected weather, which dumped up to a year's worth of rain in some areas in a few of days. 

According to NASA, this formed over the Atlantic Ocean and extended south, bringing precipitation from equatorial Africa to the northern Sahara. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, storms in the southern Sahara have been caused by the Intertropical Convergence Zone since mid-July.

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