Existing comment:
But It's a Dry Heat...
"It was so hot that swallows in full flight fell to the earth dead and when I went out to read the thermometer with a wet Turkish towel on my head, it was dry before I returned."
Oscar Denton, caretaker of what is now the Furnace Creek Ranch on the record hot day of 134o F (56o C) in July 1913
Extreme Desert
Death Valley is one of the hottest places in the world. Summer daytime temperatures often exceed a blistering 120o F (49o C) and nights may fail to cool below 100o F (38o C).
The dramatic landscape around you helps generate these extremes. In the low valley bottom, the desert sun heats the air. The valley's steep mountain walls trap rising hot air and recirculates it down to the basin for further heating. This cycle leads to sizzling temperatures.
Death valley is also the driest place in North America, with an average rainfall less than two inches (5 cm) a year on the valley floor. The surrounding mountains and the Sierra Nevada to the west capture moisture from passing storms before it reaches the valley, creating a "rain shadow." Only the occasional summer thunderstorm or the most powerful winter storm brings rain to the valley.
Staying Alive
Death Valley's summer heat can be deadly for the unwary. A safe trip in hot weather requires taking a few precautions:
* Take plenty of water and be sure to drink it.
* Avoid outside activity in the heat of the day. Use the early morning hours for short walks or head to the mountains for longer hikes.
* Keep to the main roads in summer; if your car breaks down, stay with your vehicle until help comes.
Overlooking the salt flats from the summit of the Black Mountains, Dante's View is more than 5000 feet above you. Air temperatures there can be 25o F (14o C) cooler than at Badwater.
How hot is Death Valley?
| average maximum | record maximum |
| January | 65o F (18o C) | 89o F (32o C) |
| February | 72o F (22o C) | 97o F (36o C) |
| March | 80o F (27o C) | 102o F (39o C) |
| April | 90o F (32o C) | 111o F (44o C) |
| May | 99o F (37o C) | 122o F (50o C) |
| June | 109o F (43o C) | 128o F (53o C) |
| July | 115o F (46o C) | 134o F (57o C) |
| August | 113o F (46o C) | 127o F (53o C) |
| September | 106o F (41o C) | 123o F (50o C) |
| October | 92o F (33o C) | 113o F (45o C) |
| November | 76o F (24o C) | 97o F (36o C) |
| December | 65o F (19o C) | 88o F (31o C) |
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