California's Wildflower Bloom Might Not Be So Super This Year

Social media lovers and nature aficionados alike wait all year for what they hope will be a superbloom -- a burst of wildflowers in California that make for excellent selfie opps and viewing excursions.

This year, many hoped that the multitude of rain the state has sustained would result in such a bloom. But according to UC Riverside Earth Science Professor Richard Minnich, while we might get flowers, they aren't super just yet.

"In the old days, before there were these European annuals, if there was a wet year, there would be lots of flowers," he said. "But now, you have to get a situation of a long drought, followed by a wet year to produce a good flower year."

All of which means that yes, you can still see wildflowers this year -- and they will likely still follow the same pattern of blooming across the desert. Peak blooming period usually starts in Imperial Valley in late January, then moves to the Anza/Borrego Valley in early February and rolls through the rest of the California desert until the end of June.

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Just don't call it a superbloom.