Flooding in Morocco turns Sahara Desert into a lake

It's no mirage: These sand dunes in the Sahara are partially covered by water. At the beginning of September, a cyclone swept across Morocco and caused torrential rain. In some places it was more than 200 liters per square meter (8 inches) — that's how much rain normally falls in the region in a year.

These palm trees stand in water up to the crown of their leaves. As dry soil can only absorb a small amount of water and there is virtually no vegetation in the desert to hold back the water, the precipitation collects in valleys and depressions. This creates large temporary lakes. Some even have names — such as Lake Yasmina in the oasis town of Merzouga, which is seen here.

By car to the water's edge: The flooded desert areas are causing a tourist boom. "We're incredibly happy about the recent rains," tour guide Youssef Ait Chiga told the AFP news agency. Residents and tourists are celebrating the water as a "blessing from the sky."

Seen from above, the soft curves of the temporary lakes are reminiscent of a painting by Salvador Dalí — and seem just as surreal in the middle of the desert. But heavy rainfall in the Sahara is not that uncommon: The Technical University of Zurich identified about 42,000 heavy rainfall events in the world's largest desert between 2000 and 2021 alone.

The extent of the current flooding is unusual. "It's been 30-50 years since we've had so much rain in such a short space of time," Moroccan meteorologist Houssine Youabeb told the AP news agency. The rain is a blessing for the oases and Morocco's drought-stricken agriculture.

Blue dots in the brown: A satellite image shows the newly created lakes. The water is welcome. Northern Morocco is battling a severe drought for the sixth year in a row, with rainfall falling by 48% in 2023. Now the rains have even filled Lake Iriqui, which had previously dried up — for the first time in 50 years.

In the south of the country, the rainfall has caused much suffering, with 18 people dying as a result of the flash floods and inundations. According to the Moroccan weather authority, the rainfall was caused by an "extremely unstable tropical air mass."

"Everything suggests that this is a sign of climate change," Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist, told AFP. The Moroccan weather authority also reported that heavy rainfall events could become more frequent as a result of climate change. "But it's too early to say definitively without thorough studies," Driouech emphasized.