[Vanders9]

Isn’t the definition of a desert a region that doesn’t get a certain amount of rainfall in a year? Parts of the Arctic haven’t seen rain for decades.

[stormer]

The definition of desert can be a bit vague. It isn't a question of rainfall so much as it is that overall precipitation (regardless of form) accounts for a moisture deficit, i.e. where evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation, and the conditions have been in place to the extent that vegetation has either adapted to those conditions or are nonexistent. Side note, I happened to be at a research facility in the Namib Desert when it rained for the first time in 9 years - you should have seen the looks on the faces of some of the people...