Carrizo Plain superbloom
NASA satellite imagery shows Carrizo Plain and areas around Soda Lake “blanketed in shades of yellow,” marking one of California’s most dramatic superblooms in recent memory and putting Carrizo and nearby parks at peak viewing now ( ).
Landsat 8 and Landsat 9’s Operational Land Imager collected the images on March 5 and March 13, 2026, and NASA published the set as its “Image of the Day” on March 23, 2026. (science.nasa.gov) NASA’s analysis notes the floral display intensified between March 5 and March 13 and identified purple blooms of Phacelia ciliata decorating meadows that trace the San Andreas Fault. (science.nasa.gov) Winter storms that soaked soils in November–December 2025 produced rainfall totals well above normal and left soil moisture above average in February, conditions linked by NASA and state hydrology data to earlier and more widespread germination. ( ) Field reports and the Theodore Payne Wild Flower Hotline document specific species on the plain this season, including hillside daisy (Monolopia lanceolata), California goldfields (Lasthenia californica), forked fiddlenecks (Amsinckia furcata) and phacelia (Phacelia ciliata). ( ) The Bureau of Land Management says most displays are concentrated on the Temblor Mountains, cautions that much of the valley floor remains wet and that many monument dirt roads become impassable after rain, and warns there are no fuel, food or water services within roughly 70 miles. (blm.gov) BLM guidance adds that parking at day-use areas is first-come, first-served and often fills by 7 a.m. on weekends, and the Goodwin Education Center is open Thursday–Sunday 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. for updated conditions; the Theodore Payne Hotline posts weekly Friday bloom reports through May. ( )
