Kayaking halted in Death Valley as powerful winds blow temporary lake 2 miles north
From Feb. 29 through March 2, winds clocking in at 40 mph pushed the water two miles northward, park officials said.
FILE: Atmospheric rivers bring lake to Death Valley National Park
Abby Wines, park ranger with Death Valley National Park, explains how a temporary lake was able to form in California's Death Valley National Park. The lake is deep enough that some people have kayaked on it. Feb. 21, 2024.
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – Sustained high winds blew a temporary lake at Death Valley National Park over by about two miles, according to the National Park Service.
Informally called Lake Manly, the lake originally formed on the salt flats at the park’s Badwater Basin on Aug. 20 when the remnants of Hurricane Hilary dropped about 2 inches, or about a year’s worth of rain, for the park in just one day.
Visitors view the sprawling temporary lake at Badwater Basin salt flats as the sun rises. Oct. 23, 2023.
(Mario Tama / Getty Images)
Lake Manly was then replenished with more water in February when an atmospheric river dropped about 1.5 inches of rainfall on the park in just four days.
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Due to recent weather conditions, however, the lake began to disappear. From Feb. 29 through March 2, winds clocking in at 40 mph pushed the water two miles northward, park officials said.
They noted that this caused the lake to spread out at a shallower depth. As the winds persisted, the shallower lake covering a greater surface area caused the water to evaporate more quickly.
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Photo taken March 4, 2024 from Dantes View looking down at Badwater Basin. Lake Manly has returned to the pre-wind location, but is now very brown due to mud.
(John Hallett / NPS / FOX Weather)
As the winds died down, the NPS said the water returned to the original lakebed. However, the lake was no longer as deep, and it had become muddier.
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK TRANSFORMS INTO LAND OF EPHEMERAL LAKES AFTER HURRICANE HILARY
Previously, park visitors were able to see the strange spectacle of the lake having formed in the hottest and driest place in the U.S., according to park officials.
Measuring six miles long, three miles wide and one foot deep, the lake gave visitors the opportunity to experience the phenomenon by kayaking in the lake.
Kayaking at Badwater Basin on February 9, 2024. (Photo: NPS/Michael Kohler)
(NPS / FOX Weather)
Given the current nature of the lake, park officials are no longer allowing park visitors to kayak on the lake.
People were able to launch kayaks 10 feet from the road at this location until February 28. This photo, taken March 2, shows how far away from the road the lake moved during the windstorm.
(Abby Wines / NPS / FOX Weather)
"It was amazing to see an entire lake migrate!" said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. "But now the water is drying up, leaving wide mudflats. People were walking a long way, sometimes dragging their boats. This leaves footprints and drag marks that will likely be visible for years. This left us with no choice but to curtail boating on historic Lake Manly at this time."
Lake Manly has formed every few years, when enough rain falls onto the Badwater Basin salt flat, according to the NPS. However, the lake usually only grows to about 2 inches deep.