Death Valley -- driest place in the country gets massive flooding today

**Dan Druff** · 08-05-2022, 01:42 PM

Death Valley only receives 2.2 inches of rain per year, and can have humidity levels as low as 1%.

It's the driest place in the US, and also the lowest, with the Badwater area being 282 feet BELOW sea level.

It's also the hottest place in the US, and holds the record for the highest temperature on earth -- 134 degrees. It hits 130 every once in awhile, and nearly every summer has days which top 125. The 134 degrees was recorded in 1913 on semi-unreliable equipment. In 2020, Death Valley had the first verifiable 130-degree day in world history. Prior to 2020, there was no reliable recording of 130 degrees anywhere.

it has some interesting and unique geological features, but most people don't visit in the summer, for obvious reasons. The tourist season there is between October and April. Occasionally it can be okay there in May if southern/central California is having a cold spell.

Death Valley's closest major city is Las Vegas. It's 130 miles to Vegas, and about 70 to Pahrump, but it's located in California, not Nevada.

Today there was massive flooding, which greatly affected everyone visiting and working in Death Valley. The Inn at Death Valley, a historic hotel (and the only nice place to stay in the area), was flooded big time, especially the parking lot and surrounding roads. Many dirt roads in the area were destroyed. Additionally, this same storm clobbered various desert roads between Barstow and Vegas, including Kelbaker Rd, Cima Rd, and the famed Zzyzx Rd. These roads have all been closed, and a reopening date is unknown.