17 Dec 2015 – See aerial views.
http://english.sina.com/culture/2015/1216/874163.html
http://ui.sina.com/2015/1217/U47P5029DT20151217084037.jpg
http://freddofili.it/images/2015/12/cina-1.jpg
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2015-12/17/content_22734198.htm
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/attachement/jpg/site1/20151215/wires_1450175599722_middle.jpg
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links
“The Taklamakan Desert in China is often called The Desert of Death because it has very little water; therefore it is hazardous to cross,” says Argiris.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taklamakan_Desert
very beautiful, if deadly.
Seems to be a reasonably large lake in the photos – perhaps it is usually dry ?
Apparently the desert was completely covered in snow for the first time in 2008. This happened during what they called ‘the Chinese winter storms episode’. There were snow storms which lasted about 6 weeks – China’s worst weather in half a century. About seven million people were affected. They blamed it on El Nino, not climate change. Couldn’t have anything to do with the LIA, could it? Never. 🙂