If you enjoy extreme high temperatures visit Death Valley
in the middle of July, as historically that is the hottest time
of the year. However the most comfortable time of the year to
visit is in early Spring, like March and the first week in April
or so. During these months the high temperatures most likely
will be in the 70's and 80's.
Fall can also be a nice time to visit but the high temperatures in
September and October are a bit warmer averaging in the 90's and low
100's. Winter high temperatures average in the mid 60's to low 70's.
Every so often Death Valley receives more than the inch or two of rain
that they average each year and this extra water produces an incredible
desert bloom in the later winter and early spring months. In late 2004
Death Valley received quite a bit of rain which produced flash flooding
and actually washed out part of the main roads and
disabled quite a few other roads. Fortunately these have been repaired
and the major attractions affected are now open again.
Several notes regarding flash floods - these can happen very quickly in
a matter of minutes if it has been raining already for some time. During
one of our visits to the park in early August we drove in from the
Nevada side at 2am. This was after driving around localized flash floods
that had closed most of the western roads into the park. We actually
drove down from Beatty Nevada on several roads that were completely
covered by the washouts left by the localized rainstorms. Fortunately we
drove this after they occurred. Parts of the road had at least a foot or
more of mud, rocks and small boulders cover it; imagine if you were here
during the flash floods which would not be a safe place. Flash floods
can happen any time of the year - if its cloudy, keep an eye on the
weather.
Many people visit Death Valley in the late fall, winter and spring
months thus avoiding the hottest
times of the year. These times are the most crowded in Death Valley and
its a good idea to make reservations at some of the park hotels.
However, International tourists are fascinated with the heat of Death Valley and
especially in the heart of the summer you will meet people from around
the world who have come here to see what this heat feels like for
themselves!
Scotty's Castle can have lines to get in on the tours in the winter
months - so it is a good idea to get there early. Even with the
extreme summertime temperatures there are still quite a few people who
visit Death Valley. I have been to Death Valley several times in
different parts of the year and am always amazed but the large number of
people from Germany who are visiting. It seems that they love the heat just as
much as I do!
Average Temperatures - note the average minimum temperatures in the
right hand column would follow the high temperature pattern in many
parts of the USA during the course of a year!
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