The California super bloom is back and bigger than ever thanks to plenty of rainfall throughout the year.
By Tate Coan, Online Editor
Usually California super blooms happen once in a decade, but this is the second one in three years and now they can even be seen from space.
Considering the droughts California often experiences, multiple super blooms in such a short time-frame are highly unusual but thanks to the United States’ wettest winter on record, the Golden State is drenched with color.
NASA noticed an explosion of wildflowers within the west-coast state and DigitalGlobe satellites were able to capture high resolution images of the blooms.
“The colorful satellite imagery shows the hillsides along Walker Canyon, filled with blooming poppies as well as hundreds of cars parked nearby and people hiking along trails in the area,” said a DigitalGlobe representative.
The abundance of precipitation broke the state out of its near 8-year drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and locals are taking advantage of the colorful new backdrop.
As the captivating blooms takeover the mountains, they also takeover news feeds and homepages. Eager sightseers sit and pose surrounded by the vibrant flora of SoCal in their latest posts. Over 150,000 pictures are tagged #superbloom depicting the painted California fields on instagram, but many fear a negative outcome for the flowers with all the added attention.
“Look at those people. They’re stepping all over the poppies,” said Randy Solis, a Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency patrol officer. “The people are nice — except when they’re fighting about poppies.”
The California Department of Parks and Recreation encourage visitors to not step on or sit on the flowers due to the potential damage it can cause to the fields. Packing down the soil by adding a person’s body weight to the land can leave the dirt lifeless for the next few years to come.
With over 140,000 visitors to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park during the smaller superbloom of 2017, wildflower onlookers can expect large crowds, long lines and weekend traffic jams.
The super bloom can be seen at most California state parks like Griffith Park, The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, Malibu Creek State Park and Joshua Tree.
With millions bright blooming flowers, California is wrapping up their heavy winter rains with a rainbow.