See stunning photos of the Atacama Desert — the driest on Earth — blooming in winter for 1st time in a decade

For the first time in a decade, plants in the Atacama Desert have started flowering in the middle of winter, covering a portion of the driest desert on the planet in white and violet hues. 

The rare bloom is the result of rain in northern Chile during the Southern Hemisphere's fall. About 0.4 inches (11 millimeters) fell in mid-April, which combined with the morning fog known locally as "camanchaca" to activate vegetation that can remain dormant for up to 15 years. 

Two of the first species to color the landscape this year were the "pata de guanaco" (Cistanthe grandiflora), with its bright fuchsia-colored flowers, and the white "sighs of the field" (Nolana baccata).

The flowering has occurred in an area covering between 115 and 155 square miles (300 to 400 square kilometers), said César Pizarro, head of the Biodiversity Conservation section and Scientific Research at the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) in Atacama. A full flowering desert, which occurs in spring (September to October) due to winter rains, can extend over about 5,800 square miles (15,000 square km), with more than 200 species in bloom.

Typically, the desert flowers bloom in spring in years when at least 0.6 inches (15 mm) of rain falls between June, July and August. This is related to the El Niño phenomenon — which increases precipitations in Chile above average.

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In 2015, the rains fell in March, activating the vegetation in winter, just as is happening now.