An ancient lake has reemerged at Death Valley National Park

 

The ruins of an ancient lake can still be seen in Death Valley National Park after a heavy storm last year flooded the iconic Badwater Basin.

On Aug. 20, heavy precipitation from Hurricane Hilary -- an event that prompted the first tropical storm watch in California's history -- led to the pooling of several inches of water in Badwater Basin, where Lake Manly, an ancient lake that once was filled with water up to 700 feet deep during the Ice Ages, once stood, Abby Wines, park ranger at Death Valley National Park, told ABC News.

According to the National Park Service, more than 2 inches of rain fell on August 20 alone, more than the area, noted for its arid scenery, usually receives in a year.

According to the National Park Service, the severe rain forced Death Valley National Park to close from August 20 to October 15, the longest shutdown in the park's history.

The vestiges of the high rains persist in Death Valley because it is an interior basin, which means that the water does not drain out to sea, but they will not last forever, according to Wines. Currently, the lake stretches several miles long and around two miles wide. It is barely a few inches deep and becoming shallower by the day, with park rangers expecting that the lake will persist until the end of February.

The lake last filled up in 2005, just before Wines moved to the

region. It dried up about a week after it formed and hasn't filled up since, she says.

"We didn't think it would be here anywhere near this long," Wines told reporters. "If you were concerned that you could have missed it, you're not too late. "Come out here soon."

Witnesses report how the sight of the lake itself takes their breath away.

When the wind is quiet, the river mirrors the mountains surrounding Death Valley -- the stunning image Badwater Basin is known for, Wines added. Tiffany Lin, a travel and hiking blogger in her mid-30s, characterised the lake as having a "vibrant reflection".

"It was perfectly clear," said Lin, who drove from her Orange County, California, home to visit the lake over Thanksgiving weekend.

Wines reported that the flooding was not deep enough to kayak from end to end. Lin described water deep enough to wade into in the centre of the lake.

Because the temperature is often hot and dry, any water left behind by rains evaporates and forms salt flats in the basin, according to Wines. But because the rain came so quickly and ferociously, it ran down to the salt flats, filling them with water, she explained.