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California’s Poppy Bloom so Big You Can See It From Space

Big rains in March and April, plus no Instagram “tramplers” meant vast huge orange poppy fields that NASA spied on
By - posted 5/21/2020 No Comment

Thanks to Matador Network for letting us know that California’s poppy bloom was so bright this year (and safe from Instagram tramplers) that it could be seen from space.

See NASA’s Photos – Happy Spring! Enjoy some flower gazing from space!

Near the western tip of the Mojave Desert (Northwest of Lancaster and Palmdale, and a few miles west of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center) fields of poppies colored the landscape a bright orange this spring.

On April 14, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite (483 miles high in orbit) acquired images of vast blooms in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve when poppy flowers in the valley were thought to be at or near their peak.

The flowers bloomed after Southern California received significant rainfall in March and April 2020. This spring, Lancaster received around 10.5 inches (27 centimeters) of rain—almost 4 inches (10 centimeters) above normal.

The extra rain may cause the poppies to stick around longer than usual and result in an above-average wildflower year. Park officials called this bloom an “unexpected” surprise due to the late-season rains.