China's "King of Deserts" is covered in snow, and netizens are furious to find out the truth...

Recently, the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang welcomed its first snowfall since the beginning of winter. Looking around, the white snow covered the endless sand dunes, creating a magnificent and picturesque spectacle of desert rime, which sparked heated discussions among netizens.

So, is it rare for snow to fall in the extremely arid Taklimakan Desert? And how is it formed? On December 16, our reporter interviewed a meteorological expert to answer questions and solve puzzles.

Snowfall in the desert is not uncommon

According to the weather forecast released by the Xinjiang Meteorological Bureau, from December 9 to 10, multiple meteorological stations in the Nanshan Desert area of ​​Bohu County, Bayinguoleng Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, located on the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, monitored snowfall of 1.2 mm to 4.9 mm. A layer of white snow covered the continuous sand dunes, and some areas also formed a rime landscape with unique charm.

So, is it surprising that it snows in the extremely arid Taklamakan Desert?

Meteorological staff concluded that snow in the Taklimakan Desert is not uncommon. In addition, the number of large-scale snowfalls in the desert has increased in recent years.

"It is actually very common for it to snow in the desert." Parhat Tayir, a business staff member of the Meteorological Bureau of Bayinguoleng Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, gave an example. The monitoring data of the Tazhong Meteorological Station from November 1999 to December 2024 showed that there were 50 days with snowfall greater than or equal to 0.1 mm in winter, and 9 days with obvious snowfall greater than 1.0 mm.

In fact, this year marks the fourth consecutive year that the Taklamakan Desert has seen widespread snowfall.

Data shows that from December 13 to 14, 2023, the Taklimakan Desert around Luntai County, Qiemo County and other places in Bayinguoleng Mongol Autonomous Prefecture welcomed snowfall. The Tieganlik Meteorological Station in Yuli County had 2.4 mm and 0.6 mm of snow in 2021 and 2022.

How does snowfall form?

Lv Xinsheng, chief forecaster of Xinjiang Meteorological Observatory, analyzed that from the perspective of topography, the Taklimakan Desert is located in the center of the Tarim Basin, surrounded by high mountains such as the Tianshan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, forming a relatively closed environment. This topography makes it easy for external water vapor to be gathered and retained to a certain extent, which is conducive to the formation of precipitation. The average temperature here in winter is around -4℃. When strong cold air enters the basin, it will be blocked by the mountains, forming a "pot cover" effect, causing the air pressure in the basin to rise, the temperature to drop, and the water vapor to condense, thus forming clouds and precipitation.

Talking about the snowfall process this time, Lu Xinsheng explained that from December 9th to 10th, affected by the Siberian cold wave, a strong cold air entered the country from the northwest. The low trough at the bottom of the mid-troposphere low vortex in the northern part of Xinjiang encountered low-level wind shear and entered the sky over southern Xinjiang. When advancing towards the Taklimakan Desert area, it formed a strong intersection of cold and warm air with the local warmer air. In the process of being forced to rise, the warm and humid air met the water vapor in the Tarim Basin and condensed into water droplets. As the altitude increased and the temperature dropped, the small water droplets quickly froze to form ice crystals, and eventually formed snowflakes that fell down.

In recent years, the frequency and intensity of winter snowfall on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert have increased.

Wu Xiulan, deputy chief of monitoring and evaluation at the Xinjiang Climate Center, said that in recent years, the average winter precipitation in southern Xinjiang has shown an increasing trend. From 1991 to 2020, the average winter precipitation in the Tarim Basin was 5.7 mm, an increase of 0.6 mm compared with the average winter precipitation of 5.1 mm from 1981 to 2010, an increase of 11.8%.

Wu Xiulan analyzed that climate warming has led to an acceleration of the global water cycle, an increase in water vapor and precipitation. In addition, the intensification of cold air activity and a greater drop in temperature are also conducive to the formation of snow in desert areas.

Source: Jiang Binwei, omnimedia reporter of Urumqi Evening News