| Alkali Lake | |
|---|---|
 Alkali Lake dry lakebed and surrounding desert | |
  Alkali Lake | |
| Location | Lake County, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 42°58′38″N 120°01′41″W / 42.97722°N 120.02806°W / 42.97722; -120.02806 |
| Lake type | seasonal, alkali |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface elevation | 4,332 ft (1,320 m) |
Alkali Lake is a geographic sink located in Lake County, Oregon, United States. It lies within the Alkali Subbasin of the Summer Lake Basin watershed in southeastern Oregon. The lake is situated 26 miles east of Christmas Valley, Oregon, northeast of Lake Abert, and directly west of Abert Rim and Highway 395.
Alkali Lake is believed to have reached a prehistoric maximum depth of 270.7 feet (82.5 meters) and covered about 1,448.4 square miles (3,751 square kilometers). Since then, its water level has fluctuated, with a general trend towards drying. Notable features include dissolved alkaline salts averaging 10% of total brine weight in its seasonal waters and a nearby chemical disaster, Alkali Lake Chemical Waste Dump.
Plants
Plants known to occur in the dunes immediately north of the lake include:
- Buckwheat Family
- Goosefoot Family
- Mustard Family
- Evening-primrose family
- Parsley Family
- Phlox Family
- Borage Family
- Sunflower Family
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Alkali Lake has a steppe climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.
| Climate data for Alkali Lake | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 63 (17) |
72 (22) |
78 (26) |
88 (31) |
97 (36) |
100 (38) |
108 (42) |
105 (41) |
101 (38) |
90 (32) |
75 (24) |
69 (21) |
108 (42) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 42.2 (5.7) |
46.1 (7.8) |
51.2 (10.7) |
59.1 (15.1) |
69.1 (20.6) |
77.9 (25.5) |
87.7 (30.9) |
86.4 (30.2) |
78.1 (25.6) |
65.8 (18.8) |
49.9 (9.9) |
41.9 (5.5) |
63 (17) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 19.2 (−7.1) |
22.5 (−5.3) |
25.1 (−3.8) |
28.7 (−1.8) |
35 (2) |
42.2 (5.7) |
46.8 (8.2) |
45.5 (7.5) |
37.1 (2.8) |
29.6 (−1.3) |
24.4 (−4.2) |
18.8 (−7.3) |
31.2 (−0.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −38 (−39) |
−26 (−32) |
−11 (−24) |
6 (−14) |
4 (−16) |
23 (−5) |
30 (−1) |
26 (−3) |
14 (−10) |
−2 (−19) |
−10 (−23) |
−33 (−36) |
−38 (−39) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.61 (15) |
0.54 (14) |
0.77 (20) |
0.84 (21) |
1.22 (31) |
1 (25) |
0.48 (12) |
0.64 (16) |
0.48 (12) |
0.69 (18) |
0.73 (19) |
0.66 (17) |
8.65 (220) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 2.9 (7.4) |
1.8 (4.6) |
1.8 (4.6) |
1.4 (3.6) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.2 (0.51) |
2 (5.1) |
3.8 (9.7) |
14.4 (37) |
| Average precipitation days | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 58 |
| Source: | |||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ US Fish & Wildlife Service website
- ^ McArthur, p. 10
- "Alkali Lake: 6/24/2003".
- "ALKALI LAKE, OR (350118)". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
Works cited
- McArthur, Lewis A. Oregon Geographic Names, Fourth ed. 1974. Edwards Brothers. Ann Arbor, MI
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Field Office
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