Death Valley is hot. Really hot. Like, world record hot. People come here just to experience
how hot it is.
But there’s also a specific reason for this heat. A specific combination of factors which
turns an already hot and dry place into an even hotter and drier one. It has to do with
climate, geology, and botany, all of which combine in a recipe that’s perfect for extreme
heat.
And speaking of, let’s talk a little more about that heat. Because it is extreme and
it is unique.
Death Valley is home to the hottest ever recorded air temperature on the face of the Earth,
134 degrees (°) Fahrenheit at Furnace Creek in 1913. Now, there are a couple of disputes
about this record. Death Valley holds this record after a hotter temperature in Libya
from 1922 was found to be inaccurate. But, this record itself has also come into question
given how old it is and the potentially inaccurate equipment that was used to record it. But
for now, that record still stands and it’s still official, so Death Valley is still the
hottest place in the world.
But it’s not just record highs here either. Average temperatures from May through September
are regularly over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In 2001, the park saw 154 consecutive days
with temperatures over 100 degrees. The summer of 1917 saw 43 days in a row with temperatures
over 120 degrees. In 1996, the park had 105 days over 110 degrees and 40 days over 120
degrees.
And if the air temperature isn’t bad enough, let’s talk about ground temperature. Because,
in 1972, Furnace Creek recorded a ground temperature of 201 degrees fahrenheit. To put that in
perspective, water boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit.
Let’s keep going on this too, because it’s not just heat. Death Valley is dry. Bone Dry.
Not including the nearby mountains, Death Valley regularly sees rainfall amounts less
than 2 inches per year. In both 1929 and 1953, no measured rainfall was recorded. Between
1931 and 1934, Death Valley received less than an inch of total rainfall.
All of this isn’t even to mention the fact that Death Valley is the lowest point below
sea level in all of North America, and the eighth lowest point in the world.
It’s also the largest National Park in the lower 48 states.
So, Death Valley is a land of extremes. It’s hot, it’s dry, and it’s low, and a specific
set of circumstances comes together to explain why Death Valley is so extremely hot.
And, in order to understand that fully, we need to talk about 3 things: Geology, Climate,
and Vegetation - in that order.
Let’s start with geology.
Death Valley is what is known as a graben, or rift valley. This type of valley is formed
by the movement of a block of land downward on either side of two other blocks of land
moving upward. This movement is the result of parallel normal faults, which primarily
move vertically. This sort of geologic process is what created many of the rift valleys in
this area, which is known as the Great Basin.
But, Death Valley has something a little bit more complex going on too. In addition to
those 2 normal faults, which are already causing the Valley to sink, there is a strike-slip
fault running the length of the Valley, pulling it apart at the same time the normal faults
are forcing it down. This combination of faults is what causes Death Valley to sink so low.
Now, we’ve already talked about many of Death Valley’s extremes, but here’s another
one to put this into perspective: Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states is
less than 100 miles from Death Valley, the lowest point. This means there is a lot of
elevation change in a relatively short distance, which is where climate comes into play.
Death Valley’s extreme dryness is the result of a very extreme rain shadow effect. A rain
shadow is created when moisture-rich clouds are blown into the mountains by prevailing
winds, are forced upward, and due to decreasing pressure, drop their moisture on the front
and top of the mountain. Now that the clouds have no moisture, when they make it to the
other side of the mountain, they have no more rain to drop. Thus, this side of the mountain
is incredibly dry.
Now, back to those Death Valley extremes. Because, there isn’t just one mountain range
between Death Valley and the ocean. There are 4! And so, the rain shadow effect here
is very extreme. And that’s where our final topic comes into play: vegetation.
Now, plants obviously need water to grow. But that extreme rain shadow effect makes
water hard to come by in Death Valley. It doesn’t mean there’s no water, just not
a lot of it. And that makes it very hard for plants to grow. Of course, plants do grow
here. Death Valley is home to over 1000 species of plants, most of which are adapted for extreme
heat and little water. But on the salt pans of Badwater Basin, there’s nothing. No life
to speak of. And that only compounds the extreme heat. Here’s why.
Let’s tie this all back together and see how each of these 3 factors contributes to
why Death Valley is so hot.
The heat from the sun beams down into the Valley, and because it’s so dry, there’s
no vegetation to absorb the solar energy. Instead, it gets reflected right back but
can’t escape the Valley because of how steep it is. Instead, the hot air cools ever so
slightly and returns to the Valley floor, only for this process to repeat itself. And
to top it all off, Death Valley is aligned in a North-South direction, but winds blow
in from the West, meaning they don't displace the hot air that has settled there. And so,
all of that hot air just sits in the Valley Floor, layering hot air on top of hot air.
Essentially, the heat is just trapped here, destined to be caught in a never ending cycle
of extreme heat.
Extreme heat which is a product of extreme circumstances in an extreme environment. These
3 factors - geology, climate, and vegetation - all combine in a perfect storm to produce
some of the hottest temperatures Earth has ever seen. And that is why Death Valley…
is so hot.
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goodbye.