Sahara desert turning green

Thunderstorms are bringing unprecedented greening to the southern Sahara desert.

After an unusual influx of heavy rain and thunderstorms in recent days, parts of the Sahara are changing colour and turning green.

Satellite imagery below displays vegetation blooming, with its southern extent creeping further northward into the arid desert, particularly when observing the change between September 2023 and September 2024.

Since mid-July, the ITCZ has shifted further north, more so than usual, pushing thunderstorms into the southern Sahara, as noticeable on the WeatherRadar above.

This shift in the ITCZ may also impact the rest of the Atlantic hurricane season, with a northward shift in the ITCZ thunderstorms also displacing the usual location of atmospheric waves that travel westwards from Africa into the Atlantic, a key ingredient for the birth of tropical systems.