Outback kaleidoscope: Australia's fabled desert lake bursts to life in rare sight

A rare burst of monsoon rain has transformed Australia’s Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre into a vivid inland water landscape, turning the desert green in late September after decades without this level of flooding. The article describes water spreading across the continent’s center following heavy rains in western Queensland, nearly 50% above the long-term average, which caused damage and left some tracks underwater while filling three major river systems: the Georgina, Diamantina and Cooper Creek. Local rainfall from March to August added to the flow, pushing the lake into a transformation last seen in 1974. Kati Thanda is endorheic, receiving water via Warburton Creek and losing it mainly through evaporation that can drop depth by up to 1 cm per day.