The Brief

It's one of those ultra-rare California events that if you don't jump on it now, you might miss it for good. Death Valley is now home to an inland lake open to kayaking.

The shallow body of water, informally called Lake Manly, emerged after the atmospheric river from Feb. 4-7 as precipitation collected in the park's Badwater Basin, creating a lake that's about six miles long, three miles wide and one foot deep.

It's not the first time a lake like this has appeared after the rains — though it's something of a once-in-a-generation event. Lake Manly most recently emerged due to rains from the remnants of Hurricane Hilary — though due to flash floods that destroyed park roads and cut off public access, park visitors couldn't see the lake for themselves until the water had nearly dried up. Before that, the last time Badwater Basin collected enough water to kayak was in the winter of 2004-2005.

While the public couldn't kayak in the lake after the rains from Hilary, that rainfall laid the foundation for the most recent iteration of Lake Manly resurface. In early February just before the atmospheric river moved through Death Valley, about half of the lake was still around from last year's rains, which helped the basin fill up again.

What to expect if you go

First things first: If you want to go kayaking in what's normally one of the driest places on the planet, you've got to do it soon. Visitors have at most a couple more weeks to get out there and paddle Lake Manly — the water doesn't drain to the ocean due to the low elevation, but it's only expected to be deep enough to kayak for another week or two, based on projections from the National Park Service.

If you can't get to Death Valley right away, the lake will likely still be there for another couple months — though you'll have to resort to taking pictures rather than paddling the waters yourself. The lake is expected to disappear fully by April, when the temperature heats up and accelerates the its evaporation.

But even that might be worth the trip to go out and see for yourself, said Death Valley park ranger Abby Wines.

"It's particularly beautiful anytime when it's not windy, and the surface will turn into a glass surface that reflects the surroundings," Wines said. "The surroundings are tall mountains. The mountain immediately west of the lake is 11,000 feet tall."

Stars shine bright above Death Valley’s Badwater Basin.

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Michael Kohler

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National Parks Service

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BYOK and a few other tips

• Badwater Basin is busy this time of year even when there's no lake, so be aware the parking lots may be full.
• If you park on the side of a road, make sure to pull fully off the road so traffic can pass.
• Once you're out of the car, make sure to stick to established paths, since any footprints you leave in the mud may remain until the next time the lake appears.

One last thing for any boaters: Since it's the desert and everything, make sure to BYOK (bring your own kayak).

"As you might imagine, there's no place around here to rent a kayak because this is such a rare opportunity," Wines said.

This series of images compares Death Valley’s Badwater Basin before flooding (left) with its more-waterlogged state following each major storm.

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Courtesy NASA

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About the lake

If you've been to Badwater Basin before, you're probably used to it seeing an expansive reach of salt flats flanked by mountains. Most rainstorms that reach Death Valley are subject to a dry "rainshadow" effect that keeps precipitation from hitting the ground, so Badwater Basin rarely gets enough water to hold a lake.

Between 2004 and 2023, lakes formed only twice: in 2008 and in the winter of 2015-16, though Wines said neither body of water was deep enough to kayak in. Going much further back to the ice age, a salt lake existed in Badwater Basin as recently as 10,000 years ago.

A snow-capped mountain above Lake Manly.

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Kristina Skilling

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National Parks Service

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Hilary and the February's atmospheric river from Feb. 4-7 brought way more rain than Death Valley is used to seeing in one go — about 2.2 inches and 1.5 inches respectively, according to the NPS. For context, Death Valley usually gets about 2 inches of rain a year.

Death Valley is famously one of the harshest and driest locations on Earth, though thousands of years ago it was home to an ancient lake system. Lake Manly was last seen during the last ice age — geologists estimate it was 700 feet deep and covered much of what's now Death Valley National Park.

Since it's located in Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level the lake also has the distinction of being the lowest body of water in North America, at least for the time being.

Lake Manly joined a number of other temporary lakes in California due to last year's heavy rains, including the massive Lake Tulare in the Central Valley.

A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.

They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, he said. The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The company, Shepard Bros., could not immediately be reached for comment.

Three company employees reported minor respiratory irritation and declined further treatment, Katon said.

The leak occurred in the city of La Habra near a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial warehouses about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Anaheim.

Keary Godinez, who works in a nearby restaurant, said she saw what appeared to be a dark yellow cloud spread across the sky. The 20-year-old said she watched students across the street board buses to evacuate, but police told her the eatery could remain open.

“It looked like pollen dust,” Godinez said, adding she didn’t detect a smell from the cloud. “It just kind of smeared in the sky and started going away.”

La Habra Mayor Jose Medrano had urged residents to shelter in place and said some streets were being evacuated.

Luis Gomez, who manages a nearby pickleball program, said earlier Tuesday he saw the cloud, called police and was told anyone within a mile radius of the location was under an evacuation order.

The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year.

The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.

The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.

After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise.

His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.

Jackson set the Lakers franchise record for coaches with 610 victories while leading his teams to the playoffs in every year of his tenure, which ended in 2011.

“Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad’s invitation to join the Lakers, Phil’s unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves.”

Jackson will be the ninth person associated with the Lakers to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside their arena. He joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bryant, O’Neal, broadcaster Chick Hearn and former coach Pat Riley, whose statue was unveiled earlier this year.

Jackson’s 11 championships as a head coach are the most in NBA history. The North Dakota native and former New York Knicks forward is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.