Such a phenomenon occurs when desert areas receive more rain or cooler weather during fall and winter, which then allows more flowers to thrive.
The American West Coast had not experienced a “superbloom” since 2019. Rare, this phenomenon only manifests itself when heavy rains occur after a major episode of drought.
The arid land, cleared of the weeds usually so quick to absorb the available nutrients, gave birth to wild flowers by the thousands, the seeds of which struggled to find a place.
The particularly harsh winter that hit California, with its series of storms and near-record rainfall, enabled this delicate alchemy to be achieved this year.
Visible from space
Result, the hills of the “Golden State” and some of its deserts are covered with an ocean of colors visible from space. This bloom is special because at the same time, throughout the American state, billions of Californian poppies and other wild flowers cover mountains and valleys with an orange, yellow, purple and blue dress for a few days only.
This year, California’s stunning bloom phenomenon is even visible from space. NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite, launched in 2021 to capture images of the Earth’s surface, captured images of brilliant purple and green flowers in Carrizo Plain National Park.
“They trampled everything”
On social networks, the hashtag #superbloom is used hundreds of thousands of times. The colorful landscapes brought by this phenomenon particularly attract photo and video enthusiasts.
But the authorities refuse to relive the “apocalypse” of 2019. Tens of thousands of visitors then invaded this path and created monster traffic jams paralyzing the region.
Worthy of Disneyland, the crowd of influencers and tourists obsessed with selfies did not hesitate to park on the side of the highway, to go and get their shot in the middle of the wildflowers.
“It was a nightmare, (…) they trampled everything and crushed a lot of the flowers,” Pete Liston, the owner of a zip line in Skull Canyon, told AFP. Four years later, “nothing has grown back”.
A California traffic police officer even died following problems with visitors during the 2019 superbloom, selon CBS news. So this year, several trails are closed and the parks are doubling their vigilance.
