Death Valley in Bloom

Photo byNPS.gov

Where is the hottest and driest place in America?

Southern California's Mojave Desert Death Valley is America's hottest and driest place.

Photo byKurt Moses for NPS

Two recent storms have caused groundwater to inspire wildflowers to spring up in the desert. An odd scene in a desolate landscape not known for sprawling vegetation.

In a national park, regulations prohibit people from picking wildflowers that might produce seeds for the following wildflower season.

Thanks to a monster rainstorm, the desert got three-quarters of its typical annual total rainfall within just a few hours. The rain washed away seed coatings to jumpstart the bloom.

Photo byNPS.gov

Two years ago, vegetation that survived on little or no water began dying off. A 22-year drought established itself. The worst drought in recorded history and the most precipitated is climate whiplash. The last two years in Death Valley have been climate chaos. I could take you to a field of dead creosote bushes with lovely wildflowers in between. For a plant, it's a post-apocalyptic wasteland — everything is dead — then spring comes, and flowers are sprouting between the corpses. - Patrick Donnelly, a conservation biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity

Lately, a carpet of yellow wildflowers and a nature-made lake have appeared in the area.

The park can experience carpets of wildflowers known as a superbloom. Even in average bloom years, early spring can bring smaller pockets of flowers to the desert floor and later to the mid-and high elevations.

Photo byNPS.gov

In 2023, the remnants of Hurricane Hilary dumped a further 2.2 inches of rain on the park, which set a 24-hour record for rainfall.

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