Nine days of 125°F, followed by a power outage in Death Valley

Nine days of 125°F, followed by a power outage

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – Death Valley National Park reached at least 125°F (51.7°C) for nine consecutive days, July 4-12. Now areas of the park are dealing with a multiday power outage during temperatures above 120°F.

A thunderstorm triggered the power outage around 4:45 pm on Saturday, July 13. The issue is on a powerline from a Southern California Edison (SCE) substation leading to Furnace Creek Visitor Center, National Park Service (NPS) offices, and employee housing. SCE supplied a large generator, and Furnace Creek Visitor Center reopened on Monday morning. NPS housing and offices are still without power. The affected employees, families, and pets have evacuated to nearby hotels.

Park visitors were only affected by the Visitor Center closure. Hotels, restaurants, and gas stations in the park did not lose power.

Average high temperatures in July are 117°F (47°F). The recent heat wave included three daily heat records and peaked at 129.3°F (53.9°C) on July 7. This was the park’s second-longest streak of high temperatures at or above 125 degrees, just behind the ten-day streak measured in 1913.

The National Park Service encourages park visitors to stay safe in the summer by not hiking at low elevations after 10 am, staying within a short walk of air conditioning, drinking plenty of water, and eating salty snacks.

–www.nps.gov/deva-

Death Valley National Park is the homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone and preserves natural resources, cultural resources, exceptional wilderness, scenery, and learning experiences within the nation’s largest conserved desert landscape and some of the most extreme climate and topographic conditions on the planet. Learn more at www.nps.gov/deva.

News Staff