Death Valley, California, sets new July heat record

“Death Valley National Park experienced its hottest month on record in July, with an average 24-hour temperature of 108.5°F (42.5°C),” the park announced Friday.

“The hottest month in history in the hottest place on Earth.” The superintendent of Death Valley National Park in California, USA, expressed his concern in a statement released on Friday, August 2, as the park recorded an average 24-hour temperature of 108.5°F (42.5°C) in July. “Six of the ten hottest summers on record have been in the last ten years, which should give us cause for concern.”Superintendent Mike Reynolds insisted. The park’s previous heat record was set in 2018, when it reached 108.1°F (42.3°C) over 24 hours.

In the press release, alarming figures accumulate: the average maximum temperature during July “was 121.9°F (49.9°C)” and the park endured “nine days at 125°F (51.7°C) or more.” Only seven days “less than 120°F (48.9°C)” were recorded. Nights were not much milder, with an average low of 95.2°F (35.1°C). Finally, “The highest temperature recorded was on July 7, when the Furnace Creek weather station recorded 129.2°F (54°C)”.

This suffocating heat is not without consequences, the park rangers having had to intervene “in many incidents” linked to extreme temperatures. Three hikers have died in recent weeks in parks in the American West, in Utah. A biker also lost his life on July 6, during an expedition in Death Valley, where the mercury exceeded 52 ° C that day. One of his companions belonging to the same group had to be hospitalized, according to park officials.

“Record months like this could become the norm as global temperatures continue to rise. Park visitors should plan ahead and prepare for extreme temperatures during the summer months.”concluded Mike Reynolds in the press release, which then lists preventive measures, among which “stay within a ten-minute walk of an air-conditioned vehicle”, “to drink a lot of water”or “wear a hat”.