DEAD VALLEY

The temperature in Death Valley soared to a whopping 130°F this past Sunday, August 16, 2020. This is the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since 1913, a time when meteorological science was less accurate than today. The previous high in Death Valley was 134°F recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records and is the reason the giant thermometer in Baker, California, stands at 134 feet tall. Most of the southwestern U.S is going to experience unusually high temperatures, with the Death Valley area expected to be over 110, with Monday and Tuesday potentially reaching 121°F with lows in the 90’s. There are a few things you can do to stay cool. Avoid direct sunlight and wear lightweight, loose fitting clothes on your shoulders or around your head.  Run your A/C at 78°F and use fans. Shower in cool water as often as you need to. Keep your body hydrated by drinking more water than you usually do. Avoid alcoholic drinks, caffeinated drinks and drinks with large amounts of sugar.  If you experience heat cramps, heat rash, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke.

why is it called dead 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.

why Dead valley is so hot?

Brandi Stewart, the spokeswoman for Death Valley National Park, said that the valley is so hot because of the configuration of its lower-than-sea-level basin and surrounding mountains. The super heated air gets trapped in a pocket and just circulates.

For years, scientists have been puzzled by the mysterious "sailing stones" of Death Valley. Located in a remote area of California's Death Valley National Park, the heavy stones appear to move across the dried lake bed known as Racetrack Playa, leaving a trail behind them in the cracked mud.The rocks' apparent movement has been blamed on everything from space aliens and magnetic fields to pranksters. But no one has actually seen the rocks move, which only adds to the mystery. Scientists have tried to solve the puzzle of the sailing stones for decades. Some researchers thought that dust devils might move the rocks, some of which weigh as much as 700 lbs. (318 kilograms). Other researchers believed the strong winds that frequently whip across the vast lake bed could cause the rocks to slide across the ground. These and other theories were eventually disproved, leaving scientists without an explanation. In some cases the rocks' trails were measured to be as long as 820 feet (250 meters). Some of the trails formed a graceful curve, while other trails created a straight line, then an abrupt shift to the left or right, which further baffled researchers.

In 2006, Ralph Lorenz, a NASA scientist investigating weather conditions on other planets, took an interest in Death Valley. Lorenz was particularly keen on comparing the meteorological conditions of Death Valley to those near Ontario Lacus, a vast hydrocarbon lake on Titan, a moon of Saturn.But while investigating Death Valley, he became intrigued by the enigmatic sailing stones of Racetrack Playa. Lorenz developed a kitchen-table model — using an ordinary Tupperware container — to show how the rocks might glide across the surface of the lake bed."I took a small rock and put it in a piece of Tupperware, and filled it with water so there was an inch of water with a bit of the rock sticking out," Lorenz told.

After putting the container in the freezer, Lorenz ended up with a small slab of ice with a rock embedded in it. By placing the ice-bound rock in a large tray of water with sand at the bottom, all he had to do was gently blow on the rock to get it to move across the water.And as the ice-embedded rock moved, it scraped a trail in the sand at the tray's bottom. Lorenz devised his clever experiment by researching how the buoyancy of ice can cause large rocks, when encased in ice, to move by floating along tidal beaches in the Arctic Sea.Lorenz's research team calculated that under certain winter conditions in Death Valley, enough water and ice could form to float the rocks across the muddy bottom of Racetrack Playa in a light breeze, leaving a trail in the mud as the rocks moved. Nonetheless, some visitors to Death Valley seem to prefer more occult explanations for the sailing stones.

Some of the rocks move on their own at Death Valley. 

Racetrack Playa is home to one of Death Valley’s most enduring mysteries. Scattered across the bottom of this dry lakebed are hundreds of rocks that leave trails on the ground when they move. Some of the rocks, which weigh up to 700 pounds, have traveled over 1,500 feet. For years, the source of their movement has gone unsolved, but in 2014 researchers discovered a rare combination of events that move the rocks. When the playa floods and cold winter nights freeze the water into a thin layer of ice that then break into large floating panels as night turns into day, winds drive the rocks forward across the slippery surface, which leave trails in the soft mud below. Although scientists have discovered the secret of the moving rocks, the fascination remains the same.

Dead valley moving rock

Really, there are fish in Death Valley?

Finding fish in the desert doesn’t sound possible, but surprisingly there are six species of fish that can survive in the salty waters and harsh conditions of Death Valley. One of them is the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish. It only resides in the 93 degree waters of Devils Hole, where water temperatures and oxygen concentrations are lethal to most other fish. These inch-long iridescent blue pupfish are one of the world’s rarest fish.

Devils Hole Pup fish