NASA images show vegetation in one of the driest regions of the planet as a result of torrential rains in early September.
A tropical cyclone crossed the northwestern Sahara desert on September 7 and 8, passing through large dry areas of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which rarely receive rain.
MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on the Terra satellite of NASA recorded the image of these areas on September 10, 2024, where we saw that a large amount of waterbut also large foci vegetation!
The truth is that although some are noted rainfall in this region every summer, what is unique this year is the involvement of a tropical cyclone. The weather system formed over the Atlantic Ocean and then spread, carrying large amounts of moisture from equatorial Africa north of the Sahara.
Torrential rains have caused flooding and at least 11 dead and nine missing in the provinces of Tata, Tiznit and Errachidia, in southern Morocco. The floods destroyed 40 houses, damaged 93 roads and cut off electricity, water and telephone services in many villages. They also forced 500 families of Sahrawi refugees to leave their camp in Tindouf (Algeria).
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya were the countries most affected by the tropical cyclone. The researchers tracked more than 38,000 episodes of heavy rainfall in the Sahara and found that about 30% occurred during the summer. Of these summer episodes, only a few were tropical cyclone related.
