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Badwater Basin in Death Valley

February 22, 2024

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Context (DTE): Badwater Basin in Death Valley has defied its arid reputation by hosting an ephemeral lake for an extended period.

An ephemeral lake is a temporary body of water that appears and disappears based on specific conditions.
These lakes are often associated with arid or desert regions, where rainfall is infrequent.

Badwater Basin is situated in Death Valley, known as the driest place in North America.
In August 2023, Hurricane Hilary triggered the formation of a lake in Badwater Basin.
In February 2024, an atmospheric river replenished the lake’s waters.
Badwater Basin is endorheic, meaning that water flows into but not out of it.
Badwater Basin is the lowest elevation point in North America, lying 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level.
It is only 84.6 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the United States.
Death Valley, with an average annual rainfall of only 51 millimetres, received a remarkable 125 mm in the past six months.

Death Valley

Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert.
It is thought to be the hottest place on Earth during summer.
Death Valley is home to the Timbisha tribe of Native Americans, who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium.
Death Valley is a graben, a downdropped block of land between two mountain ranges.

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