It doesn’t take much digging to find evidence that California has had a rough decade. A persistent drought eventually factored into devastating wildfires that famously destroyed the town of Paradise last year.
However, after a series of hopeful signs, it seems that this drought is officially over. According to USA Today , abnormally dry conditions persist in less than 7% of the state, but none of those areas qualify for drought status.
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And as the California Desert explodes with life, it seems that the land itself is celebrating.
This good news comes courtesy of California’s unusually wet winter this year.
As USA Today reported , the season brought a series of storms that not only boosted the state’s water supplies and improved soil moisture, but also gave its mountains some serious snowpack.
As encouraging and sorely needed as this wet winter was on its own, it also had a rare side-effect.
Recently, the California desert has sprouted an impressive array of colorful flowers known as a “super bloom.”
This was because the rains also reached the desert, which gave the plants a chance to germinate.
Most notably, a bounty of poppies lined the once-arid area around Walker Canyon.
According to NPR , super blooms like this occur in the state every decade or so.
And while that already makes this big news, this bloom is particularly special.
According to Lake Elsinore’s official Facebook page, this bloom has reached an unprecedented scale.
As one post said, “This is something unlike anything we have ever experienced in our City and may never again.”
And as beautiful as the flowers are, they’re not the only reason to celebrate.
With the massive bloom comes another surprise visitor: Butterflies.
According to the LA Times , butterfly populations in California are experiencing a serious decline.
And although this has generally been a terrible–if not catastrophic–year for them, the super bloom brought them out to the desert by the millions.
Unfortunately, it seems that even something this beautiful and hard-won has a drawback.
At least, it does for the city of Lake Elsinore, which as NPR reported , had 50,000 visitors flock in to see the super bloom up close, despite only having a population of 60,000.
Although many cities would consider such a swell of tourists a dream come true, it’s proving to be too much for the town.
As one post from the city’s Facebook page said , “Our City is not made for Disneyland size crowds.”
As a result of what they call “the poppy apocalypse,” traffic has often been brought to a standstill.
Another problem concerns how some of these visitors have been behaving.
The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported that families and aspiring Instagram influencers alike are attempting to climb canyons that weren’t meant to be hiked and knocking potentially dangerous rocks loose.
