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D. Milliard/Death Valley National Park
People are flocking to an unlikely destination this month: Death Valley.
2016-02-19
Death Valley holds the world record for the hottest recorded temperature on Earth — in 1972, its ground temperatures reached 201 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, it's not an ideal vacation spot — or even a lunch spot — but this month people are making an exception.
Recently, the valley burst into a beautiful sea of gold and purple flowers that's unlike anything seen in over a decade, when a rare "Super Bloom" covered the valley in 2005.
With a few months left in the rainy season, park rangers are optimistic that more flowers are on their way, making the conditions right for the first Super Bloom in 11 years. But even, right now, the desert is pretty spectacular:
Thousands of flowers are in bloom, making for a rare sight in Death Valley, this month.
D. Milliard/Death Valley National Park
But being a flower in Death Valley is tricky.
D. Milliard/Death Valley National Park
Instead of struggling through the extreme heat and dryness throughout most of the year, these desert flowers spend most of their time as dormant seeds in the ground.
Death Valley National Park on YouTube
When the rain comes, they'll quickly take root, mature, and bloom.
Death Valley National Park on YouTube
This year's unusually strong El Niño brought strong rains to the valley. Last October, Death Valley received about 1.5 inches of rain, which is close to how much it usually receives in an entire year. It was enough to spark a giant bloom this month.
D. Milliard/Death Valley National Park
Most of the flowers you see here are yellow Desert Golds and purple hued Notchleaf Phacelia and Sand Verbena flowers.
D. Milliard/Death Valley National Park
There's also the distinctive Desert Five-Spot, which has five, large red spots on its inner petals, shown below:
Death Valley National Park on YouTube
If you want an experience of a lifetime, then you might want to head down to Death Valley before the blooms close up and seed again.
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Jessica Orwig is a senior editor at Business Insider, where she collaborates with reporters, editors, and producers across teams to shape, write, edit, and publish stories that connect with a global audience. While her roots are in science and technology journalism, her work today spans business, careers, culture, and the big ideas shaping the future.She earned her Master’s in Science & Technology Journalism from Texas A&M University and holds a Bachelor’s in Astronomy & Physics from The Ohio State University. Throughout her career, she’s helped lead coverage on everything from space exploration and climate change to innovation, the future of work, and evolving cultural trends.Career HighlightsLed coverage on scientific milestones, including:
