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.
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