The Atacama Desert, the driest on the planet, woke up covered in white.
On the Chajnantor Plain and at the ALMA Observatory, nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, thermometers registered -12°C, with a wind chill of -28°C. It was all caused by a polar front that moved straight up from Antarctica and hit Chile and Argentina with a force no one expected so soon.
Temuco, Puerto Montt, and Chillán broke their own historical cold records, and the mountain range accumulated more than a meter of snow. On the other side of the border, in Neuquén, Salto del Agrio—a waterfall up to 60 meters high—was partially frozen in the middle of its course. Schools closed, science came to a standstill, and entire cities scrambled for heating: that is how the most extreme winter in years felt.