PHOTOS: Perfect conditions may permit once-per-decade wildflower 'super bloom' to envelop Death Valley

By Jillian MacMath, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

February 16,2016; 1:04PM,EST

Perfect conditions in Death Valley National Park this year may lead to a once-in-a-decade "super bloom," according to park officials.
Blossoming flowers are already transforming the area from "being a valley of death to being a valley of life," Park Ranger Alan Van Valkenburg said in a national parks video.
"It's very rare to have a good bloom in Death Valley," he said.

"You always get flowers somewhere in Death Valley almost every month of the year, but to have a big bloom like this, which we hope will become a super bloom which is beyond all your expectations, those are quite rare."
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Van Valkenburg has lived in Death Valley for 25 years and has seen numerous wildflower blooms.
"I was always very excited until I saw one of these super blooms," he said.

"And then, I suddenly realized there are so many seeds that are just waiting to sprout, just waiting to grow. I had no idea that there was that much out there. When you get the perfect conditions, the perfect storm, so to speak, those seeds could all sprout at once."
If temperatures don't get too high and another rainfall is in the offing for the area, officials believe the blooms could last through the duration of March.
"These areas that are normally just rock, just soil, just barren, not even shrubs, they're filled with life."




(Photos/Alan Van Valkenburg, Death Valley National Park ranger)

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