Deserts are by definition barren areas of land with little precipitation. But few compare to Chile's Atacama Desert. Often called the world's driest non-polar desert, the 600-mile stretch of land gets an average of just 0.13 inches of rain annually, despite its location next to our planet's largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean.
The dry weather is caused by a combination of factors, the most important of which is the desert's location in the rain shadow of two mountain ranges - The Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. Also a factor is the Pacific Anticyclone winds that blow cold, dry air into the Atacama.
However, though they are extremely effective in blocking moisture during normal years, 2015 is not a typical year, thanks to El Niño. The climate pattern is encountered every five to seven years when the water in the Pacific Ocean near the equator becomes warmer than normal. The higher temperature impacts atmospheric conditions and weather around the world resulting in unusual and extreme weather that ranges from droughts to severe storms.
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