Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located within Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 ft (85.5 m ) below sea level. This point is only 76 miles (123 km) east of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). Death Valley holds the record for the highest reliably reported temperature in the Western hemisphere, 134°F (56.7°C) at Furnace Creek in 1913—just short of the world record, 136°F (58°C) in Al 'Aziziyah, Libya, on September 13, 1922.
Located near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It is located mostly in Inyo County, California. It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km2). Death Valley shares many characteristics with other places below sea level.
Climate
The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures. 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. Summer nights provide little relief as overnight lows may only dip into the 86°F to 95°F (30°C to 35°C) range. Moving masses of super-heated air blow through the valley creating extreme high temperatures.
The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley (Furnace Creek) was 134°F (57.1°C) on July 10, 1913, at Furnace Creek. During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached 129° F (54°C) or above. The greatest number of consecutive days with a maximum temperature of 100° F or above was 154 days in the summer of 2001. The summer of 1996 had 40 days over 120° F, and 105 days over 110° F. The summer of 1917 had 52 days where temperatures reached 120° F (49°C) or above with 43 of them consecutive. Four major mountain ranges lie between Death Valley and the ocean, each one adding to an increasingly drier rainshadow effect, and in 1929 and 1953 no rain was recorded for the whole year. The period from 1931 to 1934 was the driest stretch on record with only 0.64 inches (1.6cm) of rain over a 40-month period.
From 1961-2008 the weather station at Death Valley (Furnace Creek) recorded an average yearly temperature of 76.7°F (24.8°C) with an average high in January of around 66°F (19°C) and 116°F (47°C) in July. Another weather station located in Death Valley (Cow Creek), during the period from 1934 to 1961 recorded an average yearly temperature of 77.3°F (25.2°C) with an average high in January of around 64°F (18°C) and 116°F (47°C) in July.
The period from July 17–19, 1959 was the longest string of consecutive days where nighttime low temperatures did not drop below 100°F. As recently as 2003 the Furnace Creek weather station reported two consecutive readings with night time lows of 100°F or above. The highest ever night time low temperature in Death Valley was 103°F recorded on July 5, 1970 and July 24, 2003.
The longest stretch of consecutive days where temperatures reached 90°F (32°C) or more was 205 during Apr-Oct 1992. On average there are 192 days per year in Death Valley where temperatures reach 90°F (32°C) or more.
The average annual precipitation in Death valley (Greenland Ranch Station) is 1.58 inches (4.00 cm). The wettest month on record is January 1995 when 2.59 inches (6.57 cm) fell on Death valley.
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