Torrential rains are falling across the Sahara in the last few days (Sep 2024), triggering high-magnitude floods in ephemeral desert streams. 

Heavy precipitation events are frequent in summertime over the Sahara's southern side, as noted by Armon et al. (2024). 

This year, in response to an extratropical cyclone, these rains moved northward and thunderstorms were observed in the northwestern Sahara.

This mechanism, described in a preprint article now under review (link) triggered high-magnitude floods in the northwestern Sahara, which filled up dry desert lakes, as seen in this post by NASA. 

More on this Saharan rainfall event in this episode of the BBC's Science in Action.

 

 

Sebkha el Melah (13/9/2024), a normally dry lake in the Sahara was filled by the recent floods.

Image source: NASA Worldview