Death Valley Has Already Received Year's Worth of Rain

Death Valley has received almost an inch more than its average annual rainfall despite there still being more than five months left in the water year.

The desert valley located in Eastern California, known as the hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America, has had unusually high rainfall amounts documented this year after an atmospheric river dumped excessive precipitation on the region in February.

The heavy rainfall helped supplement a temporary lake—Lake Manly—that formed at Badwater Basin inside the national park after tropical storm Hilary brought a deluge of rain to the desert in August.

The downpours have skyrocketed Death Valley's rainfall totals above its annual average. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Las Vegas shared graphics from various climate stations within its coverage area, including for Death Valley.

"As we approach our driest months on average, May and June," NWS Las Vegas posted. "Let's take a look at how the water year precipitation totals stands so far at our official climate stations. In fact, Barstow and Furnace Creek have already exceeded their average annual rainfall!"

According to the graphics, Furnace Creek in Death Valley has received 2.93 inches of rain since October, when the water year began. The region typically has received around 1.5 inches of rain around this time of year. The annual average rainfall is just over 2 inches.

The graphics also revealed that Barstow, California, and Bishop, California, were above their average rainfall for this time of year at 4.06 inches and 4.44 inches respectively.

Other climate stations revealed that Las Vegas; Kingman, Arizona; and Needles, California, were below average rainfall.

NWS meteorologist John Adair told Newsweek that last year, Death Valley also surpassed its average annual rainfall with 3.73 inches of rain during the water year. Of that, 2.26 inches fell from Tropical Storm Hilary.

February is the wettest month for Death Valley, producing around .52 inches of rain on average. Adair said there's no rain forecasted for Death Valley in the foreseeable future, although he said there's potential that the region will surpass its rainfall amount from last year. Despite that potential, Adair said summer thunderstorms can be hit or miss for the region.

The excessive rain has caused brilliant yellow flowers to bloom throughout Death Valley after they were "supercharged" by an atmospheric river that hit the region last month.

The flowers are reminiscent of the superbloom, a phenomenon that can occur in California during the spring months. The massive bloom of wildflowers produces such a stunning view that it draws spectators from around the nation. Last year was the first California superbloom since 2019.