Death Valley is dry because it sits in the rainshadow of four major mountain ranges to the west (Sierra Nevada, White/Inyo Mountains, the Argus Range, and the Panamint Range).
The National Weather Service initially reported 1.46 inches of rain, which was recorded by an automated gauge. The agency now recognizes 1.70 inches, recorded manually by National Park Service rangers, as the more reliable number. This is three-quarters of Death Valley's 2.20-inch average annual rainfall.
Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), 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 Panamint Range).
The valley is a long, narrow basin 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, yet is walled by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear, dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to heat the desert surface.
And while the basin of Death Valley is the hottest and driest place on Earth, the park itself features a huge range of elevations and diverse wildlife.
But the unprecedented day in 1922 was the only time a measurable amount has ever fallen. According to data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Death Valley snow was observed at a weather station situated at Greenland Ranch on Jan. 29, 1922, when a half-inch was recorded.
A wet-bulb temperature of 35 °C, or around 95 °F, is pretty much the absolute limit of human tolerance, says Zach Schlader, a physiologist at Indiana University Bloomington. Above that, your body won't be able to lose heat to the environment efficiently enough to maintain its core temperature.
Dallol, Ethiopia
Extremely remote and set in the far north of Ethiopia, Dallol is a tiny village known for setting records. It's the hottest year-round spot in the world, with the average annual high temperature coming in at a blistering 106.1 degrees F.
But when it comes to surface temperature, two spots have Death Valley beat. A new analysis of high-resolution satellite data finds the Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert along the Mexican-U.S. border have recently reached a sizzling 80.8°C (177.4°F).
For drinking needs, there's a reverse osmosis facility operated by the National Park Service that purifies the water and raises it to potable standards.In the second system, the springs directly feed the swimming pools at The Inn at Death Valley (formerly The Inn at Furnace Creek) and The Ranch at Death Valley ( ...
Since Death Valley is below sea level, we could, as Nick suggests, flood it with seawater. It would take a lot of digging, since there's a lot of Earth in the way. The lowest route to Death Valley is probably by traveling up the Colorado River watershed, along the Arizona border past Quartzsite,[6]
The Atacama is the driest place on earth, other than the poles. It receives less than 1 mm of precipitation each year, and some areas haven't seen a drop of rain in more than 500 years.
The biggest factor behind Death Valley's extreme heat is its elevation. Parts of it are below sea level, even though the area is 250 miles (400 kilometers) inland from any major body of water. Also, a major set of mountains (the Sierra Nevada) block moisture from the Pacific from reaching the basin.
Why is it called Death Valley? Death Valley was given its forbidding name by a group of pioneers lost here in the winter of 1849-1850. Even though, as far as we know, only one of the group died here, they all assumed that this valley would be their grave.
The valley floor has continued to tilt and sink.
Darwin, Northern Territory
It is the city in Australia with the highest average temperature and the highest average monthly maximum temperature. The driest month is July and the wettest is January.
Australia is currently the hottest country in the world, taking nine of the top ten spots for global towns and cities in the last 24 hours. Eucla in Western Australia was the hottest place on earth on Tuesday, hitting a high of 45.6C.
Oodnadatta, South Australia
The record for the highest official temperature ever recorded in Australia belongs to the remote outback town of Oodnadatta in South Australia.
Why is Australia's climate so hot? The pressure zone there is Sub Tropical High Pressure Zone. It means that air is continuously sinking there making the air mass there as warm. The southern part is a desert as the winds are offshore there(Trade winds).
People often point to a study published in 2010 that estimated that a wet-bulb temperature of 35 C – equal to 95 F at 100 percent humidity, or 115 F at 50 percent humidity – would be the upper limit of safety, beyond which the human body can no longer cool itself by evaporating sweat from the surface of the body to ...
Different parts of our body have different temperatures, with the rectum being the warmest (37℃), followed by the ears, urine and the mouth. The armpit (35.9℃) is the coldest part of our body that is usually measured.
Of note: Death Valley holds the world record for hottest temperature ever at 134°F, which was measured back in July 1913.
More than 300 people live year-round in Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth. Here's what it's like.