Thanks to Tropical Storm Hilary in August in Southern California, there are lakes in Death Valley. Well, at least there were lakes.
These pop-up lakes, called ephemeral lakes, fill the dry basins that dot the landscape in Death Valley, the hottest, driest, lowest place in the U.S.
The same thing happened in the spring of 2005 after unusually heavy rains. The lake evaporated before the end of the summer.
Sometimes, lakes that have been around for a long time disappear. In 2005 in Nizhny Novogorod Oblast, Russia, the villagers of Bolotnikovo (which means boggy) awoke to find the nearby lake gone. In place of the late Lake Beloye was a big muddy basin. All the lakeside trees had been dragged down with the water, according to the BBC. This was reportedly a shock to local fishermen who found the hole, but maybe not much of a surprise.
It seems the village memory was that in 1600 a church situated on the lake site similarly disappeared. Then, decades later a lake formed. Sinking earth has long troubled the area — in 1935, several houses disappeared in other parts of the village.
Unlike Death Valley's lakes that evaporate, the cause of Lake Beloye's disappearance was probably subsidence, or the movement of earth downward. The water may have flowed into a river or underground cave.
According to Pravda, the lake appeared again in 2006, after the basin started filling with water, but that water drained away. One researcher speculated that a plug of sand and stone probably sealed the basin. If that is the case, the lake may re-form. However, local firefighters warn there is zero chance of surviving a drainage event.
Meanwhile, modern villagers blamed extraterrestrials for sucking up the water. In the 1600s, locals simply assumed it was the wrath of God, according to Pravda.
