"Superbloom" Dazzling California And Arizona; Stupid People Threaten To Ruin It

A view of this year's Super Bloom in California

A spectacular "super bloom" is engulfing desert areas of California and Arizona after a very wet winter re-energized plants in arid parts of the southwest.

Hillsides there are dazzling with acres and acres and acres of red poppies, along with lupine, phacelia, popcorn flower, lily, snapdragon and varieties of sunflower.

The result are hillsides so colorful that they - I hate to say it - are at least as stunningly gorgeous if not more so than the fall foliage that brings millions of tourists here to Vermont.   Even photos from space are capturing the gorgeous colors of this super bloom

Newsweek calls this "perfect storm" conditions for a super bloom, but of course storm is not what comes to mind when you see photos and videos of these flowers. But storms are why they are there.

In some spots, wildfire heat and smoke can prime the pump to germinate seeds. If it rains a lot in the months following these fires, ideal conditions develop for super blooms.

Which is happening this year.

Of course, everybody wants to see this super bloom, and that brings out the idiots.

The ecosystem in these super bloom sites is fragile, and visitors really must stay on marked trails or else they'll damage the plants and soil, forever wrecking future super blooms. But of course some people don't, because their own Instagram shots are far more important that the blooms, and the future enjoyment of other visitors.

Apparently, getting "likes" on Instagram is much more important than preserving parks for future super blooms.

So they lay down in the flowers for the glamour shot. And doing so means flowers won't grow back in that spot for ages. Thanks a lot, scummy "fashion models!"

In Lake Elsinore, California, officials had to close down access to Walker Canyon becaue the roads, including Interstate 15, got so clogged with visitors. Area officials started a shuttle service, costing $10 per person, to bring things down to a dull roar.

This recent satellite photo clearly shows the bright colors of
this year's super bloom in southern California.

Many of the visitors were also not prepared. These are hiking trails. Outdoors. In nature. And weather.

So people got stuck or mildly injured because they didn't bring decent hiking shoes, proper clothing and water. Plus, some were not in good enough physical shape to hike.

One particularly entitled pair decided to set a helicopter down this past Tuesday in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, says the Los Angeles Times.

Obviously, there is no airport or landing pad in the reserve. As the Los Angeles Times reports:

"'We never thought it would be explicitly necessary to state that it is illegal to land a helicopter in the middle of the fields and begin hiking off trail in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve,' officials said in a Facebook post along with the hashtag #Don'tDoomTheBloom.

'We were wrong.'"

The pair fled in the helicopter when rangers began approaching to find out what the hell these two were thinking. Officials said they are still trying to identify the helicopter and its occupants.

I certainly can't blame people for wanting to see this spectacular show from nature. We all love to see things like this. Most people are pretty responsible about it, too. I just hope as soon as somebody sees some moron doing something damaging, they get called out.

A little bit of public shaming wouldn't hurt, either.

Here's a nice video tour around Lake Elsinore, California recently:



Once this video gets going after the preliminaries, the views are spectacular:

Will The Ball That Drops New Years Eve In Las Vegas Be A Snow Ball?

The last decent snow in Las Vegas in December, 2008. 

I live in cold winter wonderland of far northwestern Vermont and I can see Canada from my house.

Really!

Yet as I celebrate New Years Eve tomorrow, I might be dealing with less snow on the ground than my partying friends in the desert mecca of Las Vegas.

There's barely a dusting of snow on the ground where I live, thanks to a mega Christmas week thaw. But an odd storm is gathering strength, and could dump several inches of snow on many areas of the desert Southwest.

Depending upon how much moisture feeds into the very cold storm system, up to a couple inches of snow could fall on the Las Vegas Strip.

It does snow in Las Vegas every once in awhile, but not often. According to Dennis Mersereau in Gawker's The Vane weather blog, Las Vegas has had measurable snow 29 times over the past 100 years or so.

The most recent snowstorm came on December 17, 2008, when Las Vegas got 3.6 inches of snow. Their biggest storm brought 7.4 inches of snow on January 31, 1979.

This storm looks to be smaller, and there's still a chance Las Vegas, at least the downtown and Strip area, could miss out on most of the snow.

This storm is a turnaround for Las Vegas, which just this week ended its longest continuous streak of temperatures remaining above freezing. It lasted 381 days.

Other areas of the Southwest are also in for a snowy treat. High elevations, but really not that high, are in for snow near Los Angeles and San Diego. It often snows in the highest peaks east of Los Angeles, but the snow level doesn't usually fall to as low as 2,000 feet above sea level.

Winter storm warnings are posted very close to the Los Angeles basin. The National Weather Service says the snow could end up closing heavily traveled routes like Interstates 15, 8 and 10.

The Los Angeles Times says a few inches of snow might cover the normally sunny, warm Antelope Valley. People camping out overnight to get good views of the Rose Parade in Pasadena on New Years Day are urged to dress in layers as overnight temperatures will hover at or just above the freezing mark.

That's just it. Desert areas of California, and the Las Vegas metro area, aren't equipped for snow, since winter storms don't happen very much in that neck of the woods.

It's kind of like what happened in the Deep South last winter, when an inch or two of snow caused all kinds of havoc in places like Georgia, Alabama and far northern Florida.

Even if Las Vegas barely gets a dusting of snow, that could spell trouble. As the Las Vegas Sun notes, about 340,000 visitors are expected in Las Vegas for the New Year's holiday.

People expected desert weather might not be prepared for temperatures of around 30 degrees. And a dusting of snow could really ice up the streets, since Las Vegas doesn't exactly have a zillion salt spreading trucks ready to go.

The cold weather could freeze up water pipes, too, since houses in and around Las Vegas aren't insulated for very cold temperatures.

For the nation as a whole, it's been a very warm December until now, which is a contrast to last year, which was very cold.

But winter is making up for lost time. In addition to the Southwest snow, winter storm warnings are up for much of West Texas because of a forecast mix of freezing rain and sleet Wednesday.

Wind chill advisories are up for a vast area of the Northern Plains.

And that big thaw we had around my home in northwestern Vermont? It's over. After highs near 50 early Sunday morning, the temperature is forecast to only make it into the upper teens today.