The valley is a long, narrow basin feet below sea level, yet walled by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear, dry air and sparse plant life cover allow sunlight to continuously heat the desert surface. Heat radiates back from the rocks and soil and becomes trapped in the valley's depths. Summer nights provide little relief. Heated air rises, yet it is trapped by the high valley walls and is cooled and recycled back down to the valley floor.
The park contains an amazing variety of terrain, historic sites, plants and animals for outdoor adventurers to discover on foot, by bike or in your car. Death Valley has some of the darkest night skies in the country and is a great place to gaze in awe at the expanse of the Milky Way, see the details of the moon, track a meteor shower or simply reflect on your place in the universe.
However you enjoy your time in the park, please remember to leave no trace , so everyone can enjoy Death Valley for generations to come. Death Valley is full of life, from vibrant wildflowers and unique species to a cultured past and scenic landscapes.
Which will you explore first? A stark day fades to evening at Badwater Basin. Photo by William Woodward www. A National Park Service volunteer poses next to the visitor center thermometer on a hot day. Photo by National Park Service. Desert gold wildflowers bloom across the landscape. Photo by Juliana Johnson www. Rocks and their trails lit by the moonlight. Photo by Cat Connor www.
The sun sets on the Mesquite Sand Dunes. Photo by Alla Gill www. Roadrunner streaks across the terrain. A break in the clouds at twilight reveals the rugged terrain of the Devils Golf Course. Photo by Michel Hersen www. The colorful mountains of Artists Palette. Photo by Blair Radford www. Photo by Ken Lee www.
Along Highway , you will find Furnace Creek. That is the location of the famous Death Valley temperature observations, and that is the location where the hottest temperature on Earth was recorded. It was incredibly hot while we were there though not as hot as in early July , and it was incredibly difficult to spend more than a few minutes outside.
Those large mountains just to the west of the park create a significant rain shadow effect. As storm systems roll in off the Pacific, those mountains wring out the moisture, leaving very little to none for locations immediately to their east.
Because the basin is so dry, there is very little plant life. The powerful summer sun heats the sand and soil directly, and that ground radiates that heat back upward. However, due to the steep canyon walls in the surrounding topography, the heat can't escape. The rising air cools slightly but then sinks again cool air is denser than warm air , and as the air sinks again, it further warms the environment due to compressional warming.
It's the perfect geographic setup to generate extreme temperatures. Higher elevations are cooler than the low valley. Sunny skies are the norm in Death Valley, but winter storms and summer monsoons can bring cloud cover and rain. Wind is common in the desert, especially in the spring. Dust storms can suddenly blow up with approaching cold fronts. Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass over mountain ranges to continue east.
As the clouds rise up they cool and the moisture condenses to fall as rain or snow on the western side of the ranges.
By the time the clouds reach the mountains' east side they no longer have as much available moisture, creating a dry "rainshadow". Four major mountain ranges lie between Death Valley and the ocean, each one adding to an increasingly drier rainshadow effect.
The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures.
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