California's Losing Its Newest Lake

California's newest lake is slowly shrinking, although officials are unsure when it'll vanish completely.

In August, Hurricane Hilary brought a deluge of rain to the United States southwest. The Category 4 storm had weakened considerably before it hit the U.S., and rain was the biggest concern. The precipitation was welcome news for many parched lakes and reservoirs in the region, including Lake Mead, which was bolstered by the influx of water.

However, the storm also created lakes where they don't usually exist—such as Death Valley National Park, the hottest place on Earth and the driest part of North America.

Death Valley received more than its annual average amount of rainfall throughout the course of the storm, and the downpours washed away roads and caused excessive flooding in Badwater Basin to the point that a lake is still standing months later. The storm also caused temperatures to plummet to below 80 degrees, a rare occurrence for summer at Death Valley.

Death Valley reopened to the public on October 15 after the longest closure in its history. Visitors can still catch a look at the desert's temporary lake. Repairs are ongoing in the park.

However, officials aren't clear how much longer the lake will remain.

"It's not very common to have a big lake, especially as big as this one got after the remnants of the hurricane came through," Nichole Andler, the chief of interpretation and education for the park, said in an AccuWeather report. "We don't know how long it'll last."

Newsweek reached out to AccuWeather by email for comment.

Shortly after Hurricane Hilary inundated the desert with precipitation, Andler said park officials took a kayak out to Badwater Basin and paddled around. That would no longer be possible as the lake is slowly shrinking and is only a few inches deep. The lake still extends several miles, SFGate reported.

"Now, you couldn't get any kind of boat out there," Andler said.

The excessive rain also sparked new growth in the park, with a few wildflowers popping up.

Hurricane Hilary wasn't the first time Death Valley was inundated with water. A flood in March 2019 created a 10-mile lake at the park. In October 2015, kayakers were able to paddle around the park when 1.3 inches of rain fell at one time.

Up to 2.89 inches of rain fell in parts of Death Valley over the course of Hurricane Hilary, the Weather Channel reported. The annual average rainfall for the park is around 2.2 inches.