Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/649869
ByGillianFlaccus TheAssociatedPress DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK Arare"superbloom" of wildflowers in Death Val- ley National Park has cov- ered the hottest and dri- est place in North Amer- ica with a carpet of gold, attracting tourists from all over the world and enchant- ing visitors with a stunning display from nature's paint brush. Here are some things to know about the once-in-a- decade event: Q uestion: What's so special about wild- flowers in Death Valley? A nswer: Death Valley National Park holds a world record for the hot- test temperature ever re- corded: 134 degrees Fahr- enheit (57 degrees Celsius) on July 10, 1913. It's also home to the lowest eleva- tion in North America, a place that's 282 feet below sea level, called Badwater Basin. Every spring, some wild- flowers bloom before it gets scorching hot, but the abun- dance of flowers this year is extremely unusual and happens about once every 10 years. The last time there was a bloom of this magnitude was in 2005, and the time before that was in 1998. Q : Why are so many wildflowers bloom- ing? A : Death Valley's av- erage annual rain- fall is 2 inches a year, and sometimes, it gets no rain at all. This season, the park got three very rare storms in the first two weeks of Oc- tober that dropped more than 3 inches of rain in some parts of the valley. That was enough to trigger the growth of millions of wildflower seeds that have been dormant, awaiting sig- nificant rainfall. No one knows how long seeds can wait for rain, but some flowers blossomed in 2005 that had never been seen in the park — indicat- ing their seeds had been dormant for many years. Q : What kinds of flow- ers can I see? A : The most abun- dant and eye-catch- ing wildflower is the aptly named desert gold, a large, bright yellow bloom that looks like a daisy. The stems this year are grow- ing to waist height, and the flowers cover entire hillsides and vast areas of the valley floor in the southern section of the park. These flowers are easily enjoyed from the car. Patient sightseers who get out of their cars can see many more species. More than 20 species of wild- flower bloom in the park at various elevations. Some of the other more common flowers include the deep purple phacelia; the desert five-spot, a del- icate pink flower with five burgundy spots around its center; the gravel ghost, a delicate white flower that appears to be floating aboveground like a ghost because its stem is so thin it's almost invisible; and various types of desert primrose. Q : Where is the bloom looking the best? A : Now, the best flower show is at the south end of Death Valley Na- tional Park along Badwa- ter Road, south of Furnace Creek. As the temperature rises, those flowers will fade, and the bloom will move north and to higher elevations. The National Park Ser- vice updates information on the best spots to see flowers throughout the bloom. For updates, visit www.dvnha.org or www. nps.gov/deva. Q : How long will the wildflowers bloom? A : The show won't last forever. Most of the flowers will wither in the next few weeks as tem- peratures start to rise. Some flowers may be around as late as June at higher elevations, but those won't be as easy to see from a car and could require hik- ing. DEATH VALLEY Ra re ' su pe r bl oo m' carpets desert with color JAEC.HONG—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Tourists take picture of wildflowers near Badwater Basin in Death Valley. JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A man and woman walk along a path under trees at Alamo Square Park in San Francisco on Thursday. By Kristin J. Bender and John Antczak The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO A major storm system is expected tostartimpactingthewest- ern, central and southern United States late Friday and continue through next week,theNationalWeather Service said. Heavyrainfall,mountain snow,andstrongwindswill impact the West Coast and Intermountain West this weekend and early next week.Heavyrainfallandse- vere weather will be possi- bleinthecentralandsouth- ern U.S. starting on Mon- day and continue through the rest of the week. Resid- ual river flooding is also possible. Scattered light showers fell around Northern Cal- ifornia early Friday and were expected to continue on and off overnight be- fore becoming steady and heavy through Saturday evening as a strong cold front crosses the region, the NWS San Francisco office said. Southern California will see rain arrive slightly later than in the north, approaching late Satur- day and lasting into early Sunday. The NWS says a seven- day total could approach 20 inches of rain in North- ern California and up to three inches in the south- ern end of the state. In the northern part of the state, forecasters say that with the rain will be blustery winds, possibly up to 60 mph. The strong winds could bring down trees and power lines lead- ing to scattered power out- ages, the agency said. Bob Benjamin, a fore- caster with the National Weather Service says the agency has issued a wind advisory beginning at noon on Saturday with winds expected to be around 15 to 20 mph and gusts up to 50 mph. Flash flood watches were to go into effect in the state's far northwest- ern and central areas as well as the Sierra Nevada, where snow totals could range from 2 feet to 4 feet at elevations above 8,000 feet. Sierra snow levels will lower to near 4,000 feet by Sunday, forecasters said. The Sierra snowpack, which normally stores about 30 percent of Cali- fornia's water supply, was only 83 percent of the March 1 average when it was measured earlier this week. That's much better than a year earlier, but af- ter years of drought nearly all the state's major reser- voirs hold far less water than average by this time of year, the Department of Water Resources said. Weekend to feature heavy rain, winds across West WEATHER Ifyou'relivingwithA-Fib, this seminar will be music to your ears. Learn about new treatment options, including the Hybrid Maze procedure, a revolutionary treatment for Atrial Fibrillation. Join Us for a Free Seminar Register Today 6:00p.m.Dinner 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Seminar RSVP to 877.596.0644 Spaceislimited. Light dinner and refreshments served. www.adventistheart.org/arrhythmia Arrhythmia center Ifyouexperiencearacingheartorpalpitations,chestdiscomfort, light headedness, shortness of breath and fatigue, or you've been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, we have good news. Here, you'll learn about the latest treatment options for A-Fib, including the revolutionary Hybrid Maze, a new minimally invasive procedure through small incisions on the sides of the chest. Patients benefit from better outcomes, a shorter hospital stay and quicker recovery. Gan Dunnington, MD | Cardiothoracic Surgery Dr. Gan Dunnington is an emerging leader in cardiothoracic surgery. He comes to us from Stanford University Medical Center. He is one of few surgeons on the West Coast who performs the minimally invasive Hybrid Maze procedure. Presenters Include: Gan Dunnington, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery Peter Chang-Sing, MD, Cardiac Electrophysiology Monica Divakaruni, MD, General & Interventional Cardiology A D V E N T I S T H E A R T I N S T I T U T E Red Lion Hotel 1830 Hilltop Drive Redding, CA 96002 March 29, 2016 SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 5 A