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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Colorful wildflowers bloom across Chile's Atacama Desert in wake of 'super' El Niño
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World’s driest desert suddenly covered with flowers – The Horn News
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 been covered in flowers after the El Niño weather pattern brought heavy rains to the region earlier this year. The unusually large amount of water allowed millions of seeds and bulbs to sprout and bloom, many of them after remaining dormant for decades. “It i…
Numerous plants are currently growing in the Chilean Atacama – in one of the driest regions of the world. This is due to unusually favourable conditions caused by the climate phenomenon El Niño.
A sea of flowers in one of the driest places on earth: this curiosity is currently to be seen in the Atacama desert. The background is the climate phenomenon "El Niño".
One of the driest regions on the planet has been transformed into a colorful landscape. The El Niño climate phenomenon has fueled extraordinary winter rains that have awakened seeds and bulbs that have been dormant in the soil for decades in Chile's Atacama Desert. This year's bloom is one of the most spectacular in history.
The rainfall makes about 200 different plants flourish. The flowers are expected to attract up to a million visitors to the Chilean desert.
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