English: The first significant snow of the winter topped the heights of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains on January 26, 2023. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on that same day.

The small patches of white that decorated the dry, tan landscape were remnants of a fast-moving snow-and-rain event that crossed the country on January 24-25. Although skies were clear on January 26, clouds returned on January 27-28, carrying additional precipitation to much of central and northern Morocco. These storms were accompanied by a harsh dip in temperatures, with lows below freezing reported in several places, including the city of Casablanca, which sits on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In higher elevations, heavy snowfall blocked at least five different roadways, with most roads shut down in several locations.

With Morocco suffering from extended and severe drought, any precipitation—rain or snow and accompanied by cold or not—is profoundly welcomed. On January 27, Weather Morocco published on its Facebook page several snow-adorned landscape photos from around the country, along with a forecast of additional precipitation. The response from readers expressed nothing but excitement and gratitude. One response read, “Rain is falling in Rabat, praise be to Allah”, while others exclaimed, “It’s winter in Meknes, it’s been an hour since it started, praise be to God”, and “Rains of goodness in Muhammadiyah”. The post that may have best captured what it means for a desperately dry country to see a flickering hope of relief may be this simple prayer, “My master, I am freezing, thank God”.