Southern California’s unusually wet winter has primed the deserts for an above-average wildflower bloom, with Death Valley already showing its strongest display in years —though experts stop short of calling it a true “superbloom.”
Experts say the bloom in Death Valley National Park could be the strongest in a decade, with color expected to last into mid-to-late March at lower elevations along Badwater Road and Highway 190.
“We are having an above-average bloom year,” the National Park Service saidin an update posted on Sunday.
“Although there aren’t as many flowers as in past ‘superbloom’ years, there are far more flowers than we have most years.”
The NPS added that “low-elevation flowers are blooming throughout the park and will likely persist until mid-late March, depending on the weather.”
“Higher elevations will have blooms April-June.”
The optimism surrounding this year’s bloom is rooted in hard numbers.
As of Sunday, Downtown Los Angeles had recorded 18.36 inches of rain since Oct. 1 — 84% above the normal mark — while Burbank logged 18.90 inches, or 202% of average.
Even arid Death Valley National Park measured 2.54 inches over the same period, also 202% of normal, following what park officials described as the wettest fall on record.
Those totals mark the kind of sustained, well-timed precipitation that historically sets the stage for an above-average wildflower season.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
