“Superbloom” pictures these exceptional blooms affecting California

This phenomenon occurs when desert regions receive more rain or cooler weather in the fall and winter, which allows more flowers to flourish.

The US West Coast hasn’t experienced a “superbloom” since 2019. Rarely, this phenomenon only emerges when heavy rainfall occurs after a major episode of drought.

The parched land, stripped of weeds and rapidly absorbing available nutrients, gave birth to thousands of wild flowers whose seeds struggled to find a place.

The particularly harsh winter that hit California, with its series of storms and near-record rainfall, helped achieve this delicate alchemy this year.

Visible from space

As a result, the “Golden State’s” mountains and some of its deserts are covered in a sea of ​​colors visible from space. This bloom is special because at the same time, across the U.S. state, billions of California poppies and other wildflowers cover the hills and valleys in orange, yellow, purple and blue for just a few days.

This year, California’s spectacular bloom event is visible even from space. NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite will launch in 2021 to image the Earth’s surface. Images of the brilliant purple and green flowers were captured in Carrizo Plains National Park.

“They Trampled Everything”

On social networks, the hashtag #superbloom is used hundreds of thousands of times. The colorful landscapes brought about by this event are especially appealing to photography and video enthusiasts.

But officials refuse to recall the “apocalypse” of 2019. Tens of thousands of visitors then invaded the stretch, creating monster traffic jams and paralyzing the area.

A crowd of Disneyland-worthy influencers and tourists, obsessed with selfies, didn’t hesitate to stop on the side of the highway and take their shot among the wildflowers.

“It was a nightmare, (…) they trampled everything and crushed a lot of flowers,” Pete Liston, owner of a zip line in Skull Canyon, told AFP. Four years later, “nothing has grown back”.

A California traffic police officer died following problems with spectators during the 2019 Super Bloom. According to CBS News. So this year, many trails are closed and the parks are doubling down on their vigilance.