For the first time in decades, a rare flood is inundating parts of the Sahara

A rare deluge of rain left behind blue water lagoons among the Sahara’s palm trees and sand dunes, providing some of the driest regions with more water than they had in decades.

The desert in southeastern Morocco is one of the driest places in the world and it rarely rains in late summer.

According to the Moroccan government, rainfall exceeded the annual average on two days in September in several areas that receive less than 25 cm per year, including Tata, one of the hardest hit areas. More than 3.9 inches were recorded in 24 hours in Tagounite, a village about 280 miles south of the capital Rabat.

The storms left impressive images of water rushing through the sands of the Sahara between castles and desert flora. NASA satellites showed water rushing in and filling Lake Iriqui, a famous lake bed between Zagora and Tata that had been dry for 50 years.

According to NASA, such an event is so rare in the region that a lake in Algeria, Sebkha el Melah, has only filled six times from 2000 to 2021.

In desert communities frequented by tourists, SUVs drove through the puddles and residents watched the scene in awe.

“It has been 30 to 50 years since we had so much rain in such a short period of time,” said Houssine Youabeb of Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology.

Such rains, which forecasters call an extratropical storm, could change the trajectory of the region’s weather in the coming months and years as the air retains more moisture, leading to more evaporation and more storms, Youabeb said.

Six consecutive years of drought have posed challenges across much of Morocco, forcing farmers to leave fields fallow and forcing towns and villages to ration water.

The abundance of rainfall will likely help recharge the large sub-desert aquifers needed to provide water supplies in desert communities. The region’s impounded reservoirs reported record recharge levels throughout September. However, it is unclear to what extent September rains will help alleviate the drought.

Water rushing through sand and oases killed more than 20 people in Morocco and Algeria and damaged farmers’ crops, forcing the government to provide emergency aid, including in some affected areas Earthquake last year.