Unusual Weather Phenomenon in Marrakech
On April 10, 2026, the city of Marrakech experienced a rare and intense hailstorm that took both residents and tourists by surprise. The storm unleashed hailstones measuring up to five centimeters, blanketing streets, café terraces, merchant canopies, and even palm trees along the famous Mohammed VI Avenue. This sudden transformation of the city's warm hues into a vast white cover startled locals, who paused in disbelief to document the phenomenon, while foreign visitors seeking the sun were left staring at a landscape reminiscent of a snowy January rather than the expected spring weather of the Atlas region.
The brief yet violent storm quickly became a topic of discussion on social media, with many mistakenly believing that it was snowing. The General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM) clarified that it was indeed hail, a distinct weather phenomenon. According to climatologist Mohammed-Saïd Karrouk, who teaches at Hassan II University in Casablanca and is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the formation of hail requires powerful upward air currents that lift moist air from the ground to much colder altitudes, where moisture freezes into ice particles. Gravity then pulls these particles downwards, but the same currents can push them back up, allowing them to grow larger with each ascent until they become too heavy to be lifted again.
Impact on Agriculture and Local Economy
This exceptional weather event was not limited to Marrakech, as the DGM issued an orange alert for approximately fifteen provinces, from Kelâat Sraghna to Taroudant and Settat to Figuig, with eastern regions reporting similar hailfalls. The following day, snow accumulations of up to twenty centimeters were recorded above 1,800 meters in the Atlas Mountains. While the DGM tempered concerns about climate change, emphasizing that such storms are part of the usual seasonal variations of spring, it is undeniable that Morocco has experienced significant rainfall since the beginning of 2026. Water reservoirs are full, and agricultural prospects appear promising. However, hail does not provide the same benefits as regular rain; during this critical growing season, orchards, vegetable crops, and fruit trees are particularly vulnerable to such precipitation. Although no quantified damage reports have emerged yet, farmers in the Haouz plain understand that just a few minutes of hail can devastate months of labor and an entire harvest.
As reported by maroc-hebdo.com.
