Death Valley

Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the U.S. Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849–1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Death Valley is home to the Timbisha tribe of Native Americans, formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone, who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium. It lies at the southern end of a geological trough, Walker Lane, which runs north to Oregon. It has a subtropical, hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh), with long, extremely hot summers; short, warm winters; and little rainfall. The extreme heat is attributable to a confluence of geographic and topographic factors. Scientists have identified a number of key contributors, including solar heating.