Getty Image / David Swanson / AFP
Death Valley, the driest place in the United States, has been receiving an extraordinary amount of rain in the past year. Averaging just 2.2 inches or rain per year, Death Valley has received about 5 inches of rain since storms began in August.
The rare torrential downpours have caused an ancient lake to reemerge, Lake Manly, and this has led to kayakers across California flocking to Death Valley to paddle the lake before it disappears again.
Initially, it was thought Lake Manly would disappear quickly because Death Valley is, after all, the literal hottest place on planet earth. With observable temperatures that have reached 134 degrees, water evaporation happens quick in Death Valley and Lake Manly was never meant to last but then another round of torrential downpours hit the region this month and boom, the lake’s numbers were re-upped.
ABC 7 News Bay Area shared footage of kayakers on the Death Valley lake for the first time since at least 2005 which was the last time the ancient lake got a few inches of rainwater:
‘Lake Manly’ is an informal name given to the lake when it reemerges. It sits at the bottom of Badwater Basin which is normally a salt flat that’s 6 miles long and 3 miles wide, according to CBS News.
When the ‘lake’ receives rainwater there’s nowhere for it to drain but the water typically evaporates quickly due to the extreme temperatures in Death Valley. When Hurricane Hilary hit Southern California in August, it dumped multiple inches of rain on Lake Manly.
Then the recent ‘atmospheric rivers’ that hit California dumped even more rain on the region, taking Death Valley’s six month observable rain total to 4.9 inches of rain when the annual rainfall is only 2.2 inches.
It’s not just about doing something that can be done most of the time. Paddleboarders, waders, swimmers, and kayakers are flocking there for the stunning views of the mountains in the background.
Death Valley National Park ranger Abby Wines had predicted that Badwater Basin’s water would disappear by October. This came in an early February press release.
Six months later, Manly Lake in Badwater Basin is still there. Though it remains to be seen how long it will last.
Getty Image / David Swanson / AFP
On a normal year (not an El Niño year), Death Valley will receive 1 additional day of rain in March. This could add a little more water to the lake.
After that, temperatures begin to spike. By July the average daily ‘high’ temperature in Death Valley is 116 degrees and the average daily ‘high’ reaches 100 by May. With those temperatures the evaporation rate spikes and the lake will once again disappear into the abyss.
For now, kayakers are soaking up Lake Manly in Death Valley for as long as they can.