Last week I wrote about Iceland, this week I will give you a little information on Death Valley. Where for the 2nd in recorded history a reading of 130 or better was recorded.
Death Valley is desert valley in eastern California. Badwateris the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. There was a now officially reported high temperature of 130 at Death Valley it past week. That is good for the 2nd hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States. The record high is 134 on July 10th 1913. Which stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth. On August 16, 2020, a temperature 130 °was recorded at the US-NWS automated weather station at Furnace Creek.
The climate is a hot desert with long, extremely hot summers; short, mild winters; and little rainfall. The valley is extremely dry because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and the Panamint Range). Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over the mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes. When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture has already been lost and there is little left to fall as precipitation.
Why is Death Valley so hot
- Solar heating: The valley’s surface (consisting of soil, rocks, sand, etc.) undergoes intense solar heating because the air is clear and dry, and the land is dark and sparsely vegetated. This is especially noticeable in summer, when the sun is nearly directly overhead.
- Trapping of warm air: Warm air naturally rises and cools;[17] in Death Valley this air is subject to continual reheating as it is trapped by high, steep valley walls and recycled back to the valley floor.[18] Warm air also is trapped by the valley’s north–south orientation, which runs perpendicular to prevailing west-to-east winds.
- Migration of warm air from other areas (advection): Warm desert regions adjacent to Death Valley, especially to the south and east, often heat air before it arrives in Death Valley.
- Warm mountain winds: As winds are forced up and over mountains (e.g., the numerous ranges west of Death Valley), the winds can be warmed in several ways. The resulting dry, warm winds are known as foehn winds. Their warmth can in part be caused by the release of latent heat, which occurs when water vapor condenses into clouds.
A break down of the record highs by month January 87, February 97, March 102, April 113, May 122, June 129, July 134, August 130, September 123, October 113, November 98 and December 89. On average there is just 2.56” of rain fall. The wettest years were 1. 2005 4.73” 2. 1998 4.26” 3 2001. 4.25” 4.1976 4.21” 5. 4.19” in 1988. The driest 1. 1929 0.00” 2. 1989 T. 3. 1953 T 4. 1932 0.15” 5. 1933 0.26. As you can see in the year 1929 no rain at all fell at Death Valley for the whole year. The last time it rained in 1928 was on December 3rd when 0.10” fell and it do not rain again until January 9th 1930.
Slim
Winter ? Hmm, winter might just be on vacation once again this year .. Lol. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/old-farmers-almanac-predicts-warmer-142500114.html?ncid=facebook_yahoomainf_js3jgx0vd5k&fbclid=IwAR2w_Accg4LchTpTb56ZDPp8Vine7vetjtKhNIxdAPeiyjnzUCTPnekdUpg
Looks perfect. What could be better than a Winter with more rain than snow?
Thanks Slim! Sounds like a place I have absolutely no urge to visit. Ever!
Getting excited for the INDY 500 tomorrow going to be different with out the 350 thousand race fans in the stands but I’m sure they will be hanging outside the track partying lots of loyal INDY fans with the race running in August little bit weird let’s just hope when 2020 is over we can start going back to sporting events this is getting old real fast ..On a weather thought when the heat builds next week I may take my vacation to lake Michigan where temps will be 10 15 degrees cooler ahhhh then back home at night when… Read more »
Wow! Wood has 88-92 degrees the next 6 days!