A watery portal to hell can open up when the heavens open up.
If the water levels in the Lake Berryessa lake are too high, the excess water will start whirlpooling into the lake's surface.
TheGlory Hole is not actually a hell-mouth, but it is a spillway that was built in the 1950s. A side chute is used to control the flow of water out of a dam.
A side chute would have nowhere to go if it were in a narrow gap between cliffs. The builders chose a big old drain like the ones in your sink or bathtub.
The bell-mouth has been used to control the water level of several other dams around the world.
The Glory Hole in Napa is one of the more famous, as it results in quite the spectacle. The New York Times reported that hundreds gathered on the concrete ledge to stare into the yawning chasm.
After another heavy season of rain, the Glory Hole once again kicked into action, drawing thousands of curious onlookers.
An unfortunate cormorant made headlines when it was filmed getting sucked into the chute.
The dam is closed and swimming is not allowed. Even when the whirlpool is at its most powerful, most people could swim against it.
A woman died in 1997 when she swam out to the cement structure. She was clinging to the edge for 20 minutes, but rescue came too late. Her body was found several hours later.
The speed of the water isn't that great, but those who work on it say it's draining all at once.
Each second, the drain hole is capable of swallowing over a ton of water. After more than half a kilometer of travel, the water enters a narrower pipe that empties into Putah Creek.
The Glory Hole is low. The images were taken by Shayckleford-Photography.
The Glory Hole is protected so that no one hurts themselves. Tourists line the fence to watch the hole in action when it rains.
When engineers built the Glory Hole, they thought it would only be used once every 50 years in extreme scenarios.
It has become more of a seasonal sensation since it was built for an unlikely scenario.
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