unilad homepage
unilad homepage
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • World News
    • Crime
    • Health
    • Money
    • Sport
    • Travel
  • Music
  • Technology
  • Film and TV
    • News
    • DC Comics
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Netflix
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Lake emerges in Death Valley in 'once-in-a-lifetime' event after record rainfall
Home>News
Published 19:24 26 Feb 2024 GMT

Lake emerges in Death Valley in 'once-in-a-lifetime' event after record rainfall

A bizarre once-in-a-lifetime event has seen one of the driest places on the earth filled with tourists with beach gear.

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover
Featured Image Credit: DAVID SWANSON / Contributor/George Rose / Contributor

Topics: Environment, News, US News, Weather

Gerrard Kaonga
Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Following record rainfall, one of the driest places on the planet is now home to paddle boarders and kayakers taking full advantage of the odd event.

Get in loser, we are going to Death Valley... is what I imagine some holidaymakers said to one another before they headed to California.

Death Valley holds the reputation as being incredibly hot and humid, not exactly a holiday must visit, unless you are one of those people who wish to experience record levels of heat.

Advert

However, in the past six months, Death Valley has received more than double its annual rainfall amount.

In a typical year, Death Valley would receive about two inches of rainfall, however in the past six months it has recorded more than 4.9 inches.

This has resulted in Lake Manly and an area that used to simply be parched bright white salt flats being completely transformed.

In a typical year Death Valley would receive about two inches of rainfall however in the past six months it has recorded more than 4.9 inches.
DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images

Due to this rainfall, the Badwater Basin and lake now see tourists heading to the region, which resides near the border of California and Nevada, with beach gear.

Park ranger Nichole Andler spoke about the bizarre situation.

“It’s the lowest point, in North America. So it’s going to collect water, but to have as much water as we have now - and for it to be as deep and lasting as long as it has - this is extremely uncommon,” he said.

“If it’s not once-in-a-lifetime, it’s nearly.”

Despite this, Andler said experts expect the water levels to drop in a matter of weeks.

“[The lake] will probably be here into April. If we’re lucky, May. And then it’ll be a muddy, wet mess, and then it’ll dry out into those gorgeous white salt flats,” he added.

Due to the rainfall, tourists have headed to the area with beach gear.
DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

So, if you planned on seeing this spectacle you had better get a move on.

If you do miss out on getting to the lake, you might be in luck as it could see record-breaking temperatures like it did last summer.

Furnace Creek, near the California’s Death Valley National Park visitor centre is known for its sky-high temperatures.

Last July, meteorologists recorded highs of 128 degrees.

Now, although this is record-breaking heat to us, according to the park service the actual hottest temperature recorded at Death Valley was 134 degrees in July 1913.

This would certainly be enough to fry an egg or two on any rock you happen to pass by.

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Getty Stock Photo
    an hour ago

    Wedding guests share biggest red flags that indicates a marriage is not going to last

    One bride's speech included a line about her planning her ‘next wedding’, and it turns out she wasn't joking

    News
  • Hawaii News Now via YouTube
    an hour ago

    Man who was stranded in Pacific Ocean for over a month explains how he survived

    Kai Sato took off from California on June 7 and spent 30 days lost at sea after running out of gas, water, and signal

    News
  • SWNS
    2 hours ago

    Man whose 'bug bite' turned out to be terminal cancer only found out after making request to doctors

    Christopher Capstick was cancer-free at the start of 2025, but has since suffered a setback

    News
  • KCEN via YouTube
    4 hours ago

    Nurse slips and impales himself on trekking pole then climbs 10 miles for help

    The nurse has expressed how 'lucky' he feels following the freak accident

    News
  • Millions of Americans brace for dangerous heatwave as ‘heat dome’ sends temperatures soaring
  • Four cities rank among worst air quality in the world as Canadian wildfire smoke engulfs US
  • Millions of Americans warned they could face water and power shortages as crucial reservoirs hit record low
  • Hundreds of dolphins found dead in lake as water became hotter than a jacuzzi