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Southeastern Morocco experienced rare, heavy rainfall, surpassing annual averages in just two days, transforming the Sahara with blue lagoons.
The storms, classified as extratropical, may alter future weather patterns by increasing moisture in the region.
While the rain could replenish groundwater and reservoirs after six years of drought, it also resulted in over 20 deaths and damage to crops, leading to emergency relief efforts.
Sahara desert
It is the world's largest hot desert and the third largest desert overall, having a length of approximately 4,800 km and a maximum width of 1,800 km.
It occupies about 31% of the entire African continent.
It stretches among 11 North African nations including Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Chad, Libya, Mauritania, Niger, and Sudan.
It runs from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, with deserts giving way to coastal lowlands.
The Sahel, a region of semi-arid tropical savanna along the Niger River valley and the Sudan Region of Sub-Saharan Africa, borders it to the south.
The western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Ar Mountains, the Ténéré Desert, and the Libyan Desert are some of the regions that make up the Sahara.
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