Kayakers flock to Death Valley after severe rain creates 'extremely rare' lake

The rains that soaked California in recent weeks have created an unusual opportunity for kayaking in the driest place in the US.

Visitors at Death Valley national park have a rare chance for aquatic recreation in a temporary lake that formed in Badwater Basin, the National Park Service said in a statement.

“You might think with no drain to the sea, that Death Valley would always have a lake,” Abby Wines, a park ranger, said. “But this is an extremely rare event. Normally the amount of water flowing in is much less than the evaporation rate.”

The desert park is famously hot and dry, often exceeding 110F (43.3C) in the summer and averaging only about 2in (5cm) of rain annually. But Death Valley has received an exceptional amount of precipitation in the last six months, 4.9in (12.4cm), thanks in part to a record-breaking tropical storm that brought a year’s worth of rain in just a day.