An uncommon very early September cyclone soaked huge components of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, filling up completely dry lakes and rivers. New satellite images from NASA reveals the influence of the deluge.
Some components of North Africa saw as much as 8 inches of rainfall, as long as they would usually get in a year, with waters spurting of hills and right into ephemeral lakes, such as Sebkha el Melah in north Algeria. Since recently, the lake spanned greater than 70 square miles and got to greater than 7 feet deep– sufficient water that it can take a year for the lake to run out.
Of the numerous tornados to strike the area given that 2000, just 6 released sufficient rainfall to start filling up Sebkha el Melah, a current analysis discovered. Of those, only two left the lake much more complete than last month’s deluge.
Environment modification is affecting desert rains. Where damp air from near the equator hits warm, completely dry air even more north, the Sahara Desert often tends to see even more rainfall. This latitude of this crash is relocating even more north as the earth warms, scientists say, and it will likely remain to do so over the next couple of decades.