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(NEW YORK) — An ancient lake that reemerged at Death Valley National Park last year will stick around for longer than initially expected now that several rounds of extreme rain have poured through Southern California, according to officials.

Death Valley’s famed Badwater Basin began filling up with water in August due to heavy precipitation from Hurricane Hilary, which prompted the first tropical storm watch in California state history, Abby Wines, park ranger at Death Valley National Park, told ABC News last month. During that event, more than 2 inches of water fell on Aug. 20 — the amount the region typically sees in a year.

Park rangers initially estimated that the water filling up several inches in the basin where the Ice Age-era Lake Manly once stood would only last until February. But storm systems fueled with potent atmospheric rivers in recent weeks has expanded the lake once again, satellite images released by NASA show.

Much of the precipitation occurred between Feb. 4 and Feb. 7, when 1.5 inches of water fell in the park, according to a statement released by the National Park Service on Friday. The series of satellite images shows how the lake expanded from virtually no water on July 5 to being filled with water from August through February.

Death Valley is the driest place in North America, with a typical rainfall total of about 2 inches per year, according to NASA. In the past six months, the region has received nearly 5 inches of rain, records show.

At this point, park rangers are uncertain how long the lake will last.

Another round of atmospheric rivers are forecast for the region on Monday through Wednesday.

At its peak, Lake Manly once held up to 700 feet of water. Currently, at about 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and 1 foot deep, the temporary lake in Badwater Basin is deep enough to kayak in, a “rare opportunity,” Wines said in a statement on Friday.

It was deep enough to kayak in August as well, but visitors were not able to partake because the park remained closed until October, in which the temporary lake had already reduced by several inches, according to the NPS.

“Now most of the main roads are open, so it’s a great time to come visit!” Wines said.

Badwater Basin is known for its place at the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 below sea level. The basin, normally a saltwater flat, is endorheic, meaning that water flows into but not out of it.

The evaporation rate in the desert, combined normally low amounts of precipitation, typically do not allow water to collect in the basin for long.

“You might think with no drain to the sea, that Death Valley would always have a lake,” Wines said on Friday. “But this is an extremely rare event. Normally the amount of water flowing in is much less than the evaporation rate.”

Visitors have enjoyed witnessing stunning reflections of the surrounding mountain peaks in the calm waters resting in the basin, Wines said.

Tiffany Lin, a travel and hiking blogger in her mid-30s, described the water to ABC News last month as having a “vibrant reflection” to it.

“It was perfectly clear,” said Lin, who drove from her home in Orange County, California, over Thanksgiving weekend to see the lake.

ABC News’ Dan Manzo contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A suspect was taken into custody Monday in connection with a double homicide at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, according to police.

The two victims were found shot dead in a dorm room on Friday, police said.

The shootings appeared to be “an isolated incident between individuals who were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students at the university,” Colorado Springs police said in a statement.

Police have not identified the suspect.

The victims were identified as 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery of Pueblo, Colorado, and 24-year-old Samuel Knopp of Parker, Colorado, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Kopp was a registered student at the school while Montgomery was not currently registered, police said.

“We are in shock as we process this tragic loss of two lives,” university Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said at a news conference. “My heart is broken for the victims of today’s senseless violence.”

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(NEW YORK) — A group of cyclists saved a fellow rider’s life by fighting off a cougar that attacked her over the holiday weekend on a suburban Seattle trail, according to authorities.

The scary wildlife-human encounter happened Saturday near Fall City, Washington, about 25 miles southeast of Seattle and left the 60-year-old rider hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Four other cyclists were hurt when they rushed to save the woman, who suffered injuries to her face, neck and jaw, according to a statement from the WDFW.

“They 100% saved their friend’s life,” WDFW Police Sgt. Carlo Pace told ABC affiliate station KOMO in Seattle.

Pace said the cyclists not only pulled the “subadult” puma off the rider, but they used a bike to capture the beast.

“They were able to pin down a good-sized lion with its claws and teeth and everything else under a mountain bike until we arrived,” Pace said.

The incident unfolded at 12:48 p.m. as the group of cyclists were out enjoying a Presidents Day weekend ride on the Tokul Creek trail, according to the WDFW.

“It jumped from the side of the road and latched onto her, and her friends were able to detach and fight this thing off,” Pace said.

Wildlife officers removed the mountain lion from the area. Eyewitnesses told officers there may have been a second cougar in the vicinity at the time of the attack, according to the WDFW. Officers enlisted the help of a houndsman to search the area, but authorities said they could not locate the second cougar.

The injured cyclist was taken to a hospital, treated and released, Pace said. The names of the cyclist and her life-saving companions were not known.

The attack left other weekend cyclists on the Tokul Creek trail rattled.

“It’s terrifying,” cyclist Luke Chouinard told KOMO. “I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but there is definitely wildlife around these parts, so you always have to be careful and aware.”

WDFW officials said cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. As of 2022, WDFW estimates there are about 3,600 cougars in Washington state.

In July, a mountain lion attacked an 8-year-old child who was camping with family in Washington’s Olympic National Park. The child’s mother screamed at the big cat, prompting the animal to abandon its attack, according to the National Parks Service.

In May 2018, a cyclist was killed and his friend was injured when they were attacked by a mountain lion while riding on a trial in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, about 30 miles southeast of Seattle, according to the WDFW. The victims initially used one of their bikes to fight off the cougar and shoo it away, but just as they let their guard down, the animal came back and attacked them again, killing a 32-year-old rider.

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(INDIANAPOLIS) — One person was killed and five others were injured in a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Indianapolis early Monday, police said.

Officers were dispatched to the scene around 12:40 a.m. and found five people with gunshot wounds, according to Indianapolis police.

Those five victims — three men in stable condition, one woman in stable condition and one woman in critical condition — were taken to hospitals, police said.

The woman in critical condition later died at the hospital, police said.

Officers were also notified of a sixth gunshot victim — a man in critical condition — who either took himself or was taken by someone else to a local hospital, according to police.

Preliminary information indicates the “incident started with a disturbance between two groups that escalated to gunfire,” police said.

“It is not clear at this point if any of the people injured were also individuals who fired shots. That will be part of what detectives will attempt to determine,” police said in a statement. “Detectives are also working to review any video surveillance footage that may be available as the business did have surveillance cameras.”

Waffle House said it’s cooperating fully with the investigation.

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(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — Classes at the University of Colorado were canceled for a “day of healing” Monday as investigators continued to work to identify a suspect in the fatal shooting of two people on Friday in a dorm room on the Colorado Springs campus, authorities said.

The victims of the double homicide were identified Sunday afternoon as 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery of Pueblo, Colorado, and 24-year-old Samuel Knopp of Parker, Colorado, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Kopp was a registered student at the school while Montgomery was not currently registered, police said.

“Since the beginning of this investigation, the primary focus has been on the victims of this tragic incident and pursuing justice for them and their families,” Colorado Springs police said in a statement. “This remains an active investigation, which includes detectives continuing to develop additional investigative leads and suspect information.”

The El Paso County Coroner’s Office conducted autopsies on Montgomery and Kopp on Saturday, but the results have not been made public.

“While the Coroner’s Office will determine the cause and manner of death, Celie Montgomery and Samual Knopp’s deaths are being investigated as homicides,” according to the police statement.

Few details have been released about the killings by police, who cited the “fluid nature” of the investigation.

“While acknowledging the difficulty of the situation and the withholding of information in the initial stages of the investigation, we owe it to the victims and their families to deliver accountability and justice for this horrific act,” police said.

The campus dispatch center received a call of shots fired just before 6 a.m. Friday, Colorado Springs police said. Campus officers responded to a room at Crestone House, a campus dormitory, and found two people dead from gunshot wounds, police said.

“This incident does not appear to be a murder-suicide and both deaths are being investigated as homicides,” police said Friday evening. “We are continuing to develop and follow investigative leads and will provide additional information when it becomes available.”

Colorado Springs police still believe it is an isolated incident “between parties that were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students at the university.”

The campus was initially put on lockdown for several hours Friday, a university spokesperson said, however, classes were canceled through Monday, but the campus would be open for a “Day of Healing.”

“We are in shock as we process this tragic loss of two lives,” university Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said at a news conference. “My heart is broken for the victims of today’s senseless violence.”

The killings marked the third and fourth homicides in Colorado Springs this year, according to police. At this time last year, the city had recorded two homicides.

ABC News’ Amanda Morris contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A New Jersey woman is on a mission to bring the HBCU experience to students who might not know about or realize the many historically Black colleges and universities serving students today.

Eleise Richards, an alumna of Howard University, started in 2016 with a college fair in her hometown of Irvington, New Jersey, which has now grown into the nonprofit Experience the Legacy.

She drew on her personal experience as a first-generation college student and the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who weren’t familiar with the American college process.

“I didn’t know about HBCUs. I didn’t grow up in a school system that taught us or encouraged us to attend HBCUs. I only knew about Howard because my best friend told me she wanted to go,” Richards told “Good Morning America.”

Richards said she had “the very best time” when she attended Howard, often regarded as one of the top historically Black universities in the U.S., and wanted to introduce what she had and more to students who might not be able to afford to visit an HBCU in person.

“I wanted to make sure students from neighborhoods and communities that look like mine, have the real information, have the resources, have the access to recruiters, to alumni, to learn more about these schools and truly assess whether it’s a good fit for them and consider them when they’re thinking about their future college journey,” Richards said.

But after running her hometown college fair for two years, she realized she didn’t know much about many of the HBCUs that sent representatives to showcase their schools.

“I realized it feels a little disingenuous to me, to host and encourage kids to attend these schools when I don’t really know much about a lot of them myself. I knew a good amount, but I didn’t know many of them still and I know that’s pretty common,” she said.

So in 2020, Richards embarked on a bucket list trip to visit as many HBCUs as she could, splitting her journey into three legs.

“We just started with all the East Coast schools down from New Jersey to North Carolina and that’s how this trip began,” Richards explained.

In the fall of 2023, Richards was able to complete her goal of visiting all the four-year HBCUs and a few community colleges within the contiguous states, from schools like Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama and Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas to Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

“In total, it ended up being 93 schools, every four-year degree-granting HBCU in North America,” the 35-year-old said.

“It’s very diverse. It’s not made up of just Black and brown students,” she said of the schools she visited. “There are students from all walks of life, all types of different countries. There’s just a lot of misconceptions out there.”

Experience the Legacy’s next college fair, free for students, parents, and community members, will be held in September.
 

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(LIVINGSTON, Texas) — Authorities are searching for an 11-year-old Texas girl who vanished Thursday and police say a person of interest in the case has been taken into custody.

Audrii Cunningham was last seen on the morning of Feb. 15 near her father’s home in Livingston, Texas, at about 7 a.m., the time neighbors say they usually see the girl walking to her school bus stop, according to authorities. But Audrii didn’t board the school bus.

“She did not make it to school. That was the reason why the father, the family, became very concerned when she did not get off the bus,” Lt. Craig Cummings, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said. “We are looking at this as a criminal investigation.”

A statewide Amber Alert was issued on Feb. 15 and is currently still active.

Officials say they are looking into a person of interest, Audrii’s father’s roommate, Don Steven McDougal of Livingston, Texas. McDougal was arrested on an unrelated aggravated assault charge Friday and is in custody, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He has an extensive criminal history, including enticing a minor in 2008.

Investigators are also searching for a 2003 blue Chevy Suburban in connection to Audrii’s disappearance and are offering a $7,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest in the case.

“That is McDougal’s vehicle. So anyone that saw that vehicle on Thursday or Friday, we’re asking that you call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office,” Cummings said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies and volunteers have teamed up to search for Audrii in the Livingston area and have since located her backpack near Lake Livingston Dam.

“There were other items that were found,” Cummings said. “But we’re not getting into what those items were. That’s all part of the investigative effort.”

Audrii is described as being 4-foot-1 with blond hair, blue eyes and weighing about 75 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black hoodie with white lettering, a camouflage backpack, black pants and black high-top tennis shoes.

Audrii’s mother, Cassie Matthews, is desperate to bring her daughter home and is searching for answers.

“There’s not words for it,” Matthews told Houston ABC station KTRK. “You’re broken, you’re mad, you’re lost, you’re empty. And right now, I’m empty.”

Officials have not said if Audrii was last seen with McDougal but they said there are multiple people of interest and additional information they are not yet releasing to the public.

Anyone with any information to report is being urged to call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 936-327-6810.

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(NEW YORK) — Some 37 million people remain on alert for flooding in California, spanning the coast from the cities of Eureka to San Diego.

An area just northwest of Santa Barbara is under a flash flood warning until at least 10:30 a.m. PT on Monday, due to back-to-back winter storms bringing up to 4 inches of rainfall with another 3 to 4 inches expected. Flash flooding, mud and debris flows, as well as landslides and rockslides will likely occur there.

More than 2.5 inches of rain had already fallen in Santa Barbara before dawn on Monday.

San Francisco has gotten less than 1 inch so far, but higher elevations north of the city have reported 2 to 4 inches of rain from the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Redding area has seen around 2 inches of rain.

Severe storms could hit the Sacramento region on Monday, with a risk of brief tornadoes, damaging winds, large amounts of small hail, lightning and heavy rainfall rates. The period between Noon and 8 p.m. PT will be the greatest threat for storm in this area.

There is a moderate risk for excessive rainfall over the Santa Barbara area on Monday. This area will continue to see heavy rainfall, especially in the morning, with flash flooding likely and mudslides and rockslides as the main risk.

There is also a slight risk for excessive rainfall from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as over Redding, Sacramento and Fresno on Monday.

Much of the areas under flood watches are also on alert for high winds. Gusts could reach 40 to 60 miles per hour on Monday, especially in the morning.

High surf advisories are in effect from San Francisco to San Diego. Large breaking waves from 18 to 28 feet are possible through Tuesday. Coastal flooding is also possible, especially during high tide.

Total rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches are expected over the lower elevations, with 4 to 8 inches over the foothills and mountains with local amounts to 10 inches.

Rainfall rates of 1 inch per hour are possible, however, thunderstorms that develop — possible in southern California in addition to northern California — will induce higher rainfall rates over localized areas.

Downtown Los Angeles only needs 3 inches of rain to have the rainiest February on record.

In the mountains, 2 to 5 feet of snow is generally expected in higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, along with gusty winds making travel impossible at times.

In the San Bernardino mountains, up to 8 inches of snow is possible, accumulation beginning Monday night and ending Wednesday morning.

The storm system is forecast to continue impacting California through Tuesday before it moves out of the region on Wednesday.

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(NEW YORK) — Some 37 million people are on alert for flooding from Sacramento in Northern California to San Diego in Southern California.

The Santa Barbara Airport closed Monday morning due to flooding. More than 2.5 inches of rain fell in Santa Barbara before dawn and more is expected.

Flash flooding, mud and debris flows, as well as landslides and rockslides, are likely.

Severe storms could hit the Sacramento region on Monday with a risk of brief tornadoes, damaging winds, large amounts of small hail, lightning and heavy rainfall rates. The greatest threat for storms in this area comes between noon and 8 p.m. PT.

Areas north of San Francisco reported 2 to 4 inches of rain from the weekend, and now there’s a slight risk for excessive rainfall from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area to Sacramento on Monday.

Much of the areas under flood watches are also on alert for high winds. Gusts could reach 40 to 60 mph on Monday, especially in the morning.

High surf advisories are in effect from San Francisco to San Diego. Large breaking waves from 18 to 28 feet are possible through Tuesday. Coastal flooding is also possible, especially during high tide.

Total rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches are expected over the lower elevations, with 4 to 8 inches over the foothills and mountains with local amounts to 10 inches.

Rainfall rates of 1 inch per hour are possible.

Downtown Los Angeles only needs 3 inches of rain to have the rainiest February on record.

In the mountains, 2 to 5 feet of snow is generally expected in higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, along with gusty winds making travel impossible at times.

In the San Bernardino Mountains, up to 8 inches of snow is possible, with accumulation beginning Monday night and ending Wednesday morning.

The storm system is forecast to continue impacting California through Tuesday before it moves out of the region on Wednesday.

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(INDIANAPOLIS) — At least one person was killed and five others were injured in a shooting at a Waffle House in Indianapolis, Indiana, early Monday, police said.

Authorities said they were dispatched to the scene at approximately 12:40 a.m. ET and, upon arrival, they found five people with gunshot wounds.

Those five victims — three men in stable condition, one woman in stable condition and one woman in critical condition — were transported via ambulances to area hospitals, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

The woman in critical condition later died at the hospital, police said. The Marion County Coroner’s Office said it will release the woman’s name once her next of kin has been notified.

Officers were also notified of a sixth gunshot victim — a man in critical condition — who either took himself or was taken by someone else to a local hospital, according to police.

Preliminary information indicates the “incident started with a disturbance between two groups that escalated to gunfire,” police said.

“It is not clear at this point if any of the people injured were also individuals who fired shots. That will be part of what detectives will attempt to determine,” police said in a statement. “Detectives are also working to review any video surveillance footage that may be available as the business did have surveillance cameras.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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