Dec 13, 2025 11:44 PM
(This post was last modified: Dec 13, 2025 11:57 PM by C C.)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...nfall.html
INTRO: An ancient lake that disappeared from a California national park more than 100,000 years ago has dramatically returned following record-breaking rainfall. The massive Ice Age lake roughly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep dried up between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago as the climate warmed in present-day Death Valley National Park, according to Los Angeles Times.
However, last week the National Park Service (NPS) revealed the area had its wettest fall season on record, resulting in a rare return of the body of water. 'These fall storms brought more rain than Death Valley typically receives in an entire year,' the agency wrote in a news release.
Badwater Basin, one of the hottest places on Earth and the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, recorded 2.41 inches of rain in just three months. Death Valley shattered a nearly century-old record in November, receiving 1.76 inches of rain and eclipsing the 1.70-inch mark set in 1923.
'It's an attraction, but it's not really a lake,' Katt, an employee at the Death Valley Inn, told the LA Times. 'It's the size of a lake but it's not deep,' she added. 'It's more like a very, very large riverbed without the flow - a wading pool maybe.'
The lake reappeared more than two years after its last return in 2023, when Hurricane Hilary hit the state and dumped more than 2.2 inches of rain on the valley. Thanks to the continuous rainfall, the basin stayed deep enough for kayaking for several weeks. NASA measured the water at between 1.5 and three feet over six weeks in February and March of last year.
Videos showed visitors strolling through the lake’s shallow waters and reaching down to touch the basin. Now, the lake - informally known as Lake Manly - has transformed into a smaller and shallower version of the one that formed after Hurricane Hilary swept through the park.
Nevertheless, the phenomenon has boosted business in Death Valley from 20 to 30 percent since the lake reappeared, the inn employee told The Times...
Vacationers: December 2025 in Death Valley ... https://youtu.be/tkhfyTw3S30
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tkhfyTw3S30
INTRO: An ancient lake that disappeared from a California national park more than 100,000 years ago has dramatically returned following record-breaking rainfall. The massive Ice Age lake roughly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep dried up between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago as the climate warmed in present-day Death Valley National Park, according to Los Angeles Times.
However, last week the National Park Service (NPS) revealed the area had its wettest fall season on record, resulting in a rare return of the body of water. 'These fall storms brought more rain than Death Valley typically receives in an entire year,' the agency wrote in a news release.
Badwater Basin, one of the hottest places on Earth and the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, recorded 2.41 inches of rain in just three months. Death Valley shattered a nearly century-old record in November, receiving 1.76 inches of rain and eclipsing the 1.70-inch mark set in 1923.
'It's an attraction, but it's not really a lake,' Katt, an employee at the Death Valley Inn, told the LA Times. 'It's the size of a lake but it's not deep,' she added. 'It's more like a very, very large riverbed without the flow - a wading pool maybe.'
The lake reappeared more than two years after its last return in 2023, when Hurricane Hilary hit the state and dumped more than 2.2 inches of rain on the valley. Thanks to the continuous rainfall, the basin stayed deep enough for kayaking for several weeks. NASA measured the water at between 1.5 and three feet over six weeks in February and March of last year.
Videos showed visitors strolling through the lake’s shallow waters and reaching down to touch the basin. Now, the lake - informally known as Lake Manly - has transformed into a smaller and shallower version of the one that formed after Hurricane Hilary swept through the park.
Nevertheless, the phenomenon has boosted business in Death Valley from 20 to 30 percent since the lake reappeared, the inn employee told The Times...
Vacationers: December 2025 in Death Valley ... https://youtu.be/tkhfyTw3S30