A series of winter storms swept across northern Chile in August 2026, bringing an unusual covering of snow to parts of the Atacama Desert. Snowfall in this famously dry region is not unprecedented. Similar events occurred in 2025 and 2011. However, one of the August 2026 storms stood out for its remarkable reach, spreading from the Andes across the desert toward the Pacific coast.
The OLI (Operational Land Imager) aboard the NASA USGS Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites documented the dramatic change in images taken on August 6 and August 14, before and after a stretch of severe weather, respectively.
The views provide a close look at the Chajnantor plateau within the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex. This high-elevation area is home to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world. As heavy snow and strong winds moved through the area, ALMA suspended operations and placed its antennas into a protective survival mode.
Conditions became even more unusual later in the month. A second storm spread fresh snow across a much broader part of northern Chile. An August 19 image from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aboard NASA's Terra satellite shows snow reaching westward from the Andes, crossing the hyperarid heart of the Atacama, and approaching the Pacific coast south of the Chilean port city of Antofagasta. Several other major astronomical observatories are located in this coastal region, and some also suspended operations while the storm passed.
