Super El Niño Triggers Historic Flowering in Chile's Atacama Desert
Record rainfall from a super El Niño has brought more than 200 plant species into bloom across 17,000 square kilometers, officials said.
- On Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, a carpet of flowers covered the Atacama Desert in Chile as the historic 'Desierto Florido' transformed traditionally brown dunes into a vibrant landscape.
- A 'super El Niño' climate phenomenon drove record rainfall between July and August, activating dormant germplasm according to biologist César Pizarro, head of the Biodiversity Conservation Section at CONAF Atacama.
- An estimated 17,000 square kilometers are covered in flowers, an area similar in size to the Santiago Metropolitan Region, featuring more than 200 plant species that remained dormant for decades.
- The National Tourism Secretariat expects nearly 300,000 overnight trips by November, with Chef Franco Moya, 37, traveling nearly 1,000 kilometers from Santa Cruz to celebrate his birthday in the desert.
- CONAF projections indicate this is the most intense Desierto Florido since 1997, positioning the phenomenon through November as a defining tourist attraction in Chile's calendar.
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In recent days, the Atacama desert, located in the north of Chile, has become news for a picture as surprising as it is unusual: large extensions of its arid territory have been covered with flowers. It is the well-known phenomenon of the "flower desert", which, according to experts, has taken place because of the intense ... Continue reading "The flowers of the Atacama desert: an extreme 'El Niño' phenomenon could bring with it the greatest flo…
The Florido Desert covers about 17,000 square kilometers of northern Chile after exceptional rains recorded between July and August.
The rains of the last winter could give way to the greatest flowering of Atacama in almost 30 years, with up to 15,000 km2 covered with flowers. The region prepares a tourist and scientific deployment, as it advances in its goal to make the Florid Desert a World Heritage Site.
The dryest desert in Atacama is suddenly covered with flowers, as reported by AFP.
Earth’s driest desert is covered in wildflowers right now - WXXV News 25
A carpet of flowers covers the Atacama Desert after rains near Copiapo, Chile, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)By NAYARA BATSCHKE THE ATACAMA DESERT, Chile (AP) — Spring has finally arrived in the Southern Hemisphere and, in Chile, even the desert is blossoming. Known as the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, a massive portion of the Atacama Desert has...
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