Severe weather affecting the Ouarzazate province in Morocco

Severe weather conditions recently hit Morocco, causing snow cover to reach up to 1.7 metres in some areas of the Ouarzazate province. The heavy snowfall significantly affected the local population, and 9,000 families will benefit from emergency humanitarian aid, consisting mainly of food and blankets.

This extreme weather has also had a positive effect with an increase in the volume of water stored in the Mansour Dahbi reservoir, which doubled in just a few days. This increase is visible when comparing these two images, acquired by the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite before and after the heavy snowfall, on 7 and 19 February.

The Sentinel-1 satellite uses radar imaging to capture images of the Earth's surface, even in cloudy conditions or darkness. They can be used to map and track changes in snow and ice cover, including the extent of glaciers, sea ice, and snow cover on land.