Storm batters Death Valley, closes multiple roads due to flooding

“A storm swept through Death Valley National Park over the weekend in dumping more than a quarter of the park’s average annual rainfall in a single day and forcing the closure of several major roads, official this today in a news release.

Death Valley, which lies on the Nevada-California border, is a two-hour drive from Las Vegas.

Furnace Creek in Death Valley received 0.6 inches of rain — more than a quarter of an inch above the area’s typical yearly total. The deluge triggered destructive flash floods that carved through the park’s rocky terrain, covering roads and eroding shoulders while damaging hazardous areas, officials said.“

Normally, this wouldn’t be on my radar, but college boy is there right now with his geology class. Pictures he took Monday morning:








They were stuck inside all day today.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

I think for geology I’d be excited to see what the rain exposed.

Those rainstorms that turned the Burning Man "festival" into a sea of mud? That happens there too from time to time. In the 80s on one of my trips there, I had to turn back because the highway going in was washed out.

During such a storm, even if it isn't raining in the immediate area at the time, is a bad time to be in those small canyons or washes of the kind shown in the second photo. People have been swept away, drowned and wound up a half mile or more downstream.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

I can smell those pictures. Nothing smells like the desert after a rainfall.

I miss Arizona.

It dumped (they said) a year's worth of rain one afternoon when I was at NTC. It was impressive! Felt good too.

Here in San Diego, we’ve gotten rain like I’ve never seen in the 10 years we’ve been here.
Getting ready to sell our house, I move a stack of books and I see the carpet and lower wall are wet…same thing happened when we were getting ready to sell our house on Maui. Worst rainstorm ever.
Jeez.

I’ll have to check today’s radar.

We got rain all day yesterday and I woke up to a steady soaking rain today. Totally different weather from the prior two years. I’m not surprised Death Valley is getting dumped on.

Pictures are amazing, California is a beautiful place in the raw undeveloped areas, bet anything that he finds where the storm uncovered will rock his world...

The desert southwest is a very extreme place when it comes to rainfall and runoff.

It can trap one quickly. Flash floods are nothing to mess with.

The most surprising thing I've learned is one can be many miles from any rainfall or even clouds, then seemingly out of nowhere a gully washer roars through.

And, yes, it smells (petrichor) great.

Looks like it’s raining, but I think this is near Shoshone:

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
I can smell those pictures. Nothing smells like the desert after a rainfall.

I miss Arizona.

In Las Vegas, we've had more rain than usual the past few days, and yes, the smell is so very special, even here! There's a clean, clearness of the air as well!

Yes, the sky can be clear where you are and rushing water can fill a nearby arroyo. It also rains in spots like in the above picture; very different from other parts of the country.

In the summer heat, if it sprinkles, you'll see gray rain in the sky and the ground will be dry; it evaporates before it hits the ground.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
It dumped (they said) a year's worth of rain one afternoon when I was at NTC. It was impressive! Felt good too.

Just happened to me last week.

The heaviest rain we e ever experienced while
camping in South.Cal was near the top of
a mountain in Death Valley.


We got up at 1 a.m. because it was way to
hot to sleep, drive up the mountain
Seeking a breeze and cooler temps.

Ten minutes after pulling in to a wide
spot / pull off,
Lightening, thunder, wind, very heavy
rain for forty five minutes.

I was concerned about a mud slide.

The most frightening weather experience
in 12 years of camping.

When he was in high school, my brother went on a group camping trip out west somewhere. They were camped up high during a thunderstorm and lightning struck all around their camp. Not fun.

quote:

Furnace Creek in Death Valley received 0.6 inches of rain — more than a quarter of an inch above the area’s typical yearly total.

I've lived high desert plain (i.e. Midland, TX) and we got 13" of precipitation a year and usually about 70% in one week.

I knew Death Valley was drier, but 0.6" being a 1/4" above normal annual really shocked me.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
The heaviest rain we e ever experienced while
camping in South.Cal was near the top of
a mountain in Death Valley.

Mahogany Flat or an off-road location in the Panamints?
I used to go quite a bit but, there was a group of us that used to off-wheel in Saline Valley and the Teakettle Junction-area of the Panamints.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Furnace Creek in Death Valley received 0.6 inches of rain — more than a quarter of an inch above the area’s typical yearly total.

I've lived high desert plain (i.e. Midland, TX) and we got 13" of precipitation a year and usually about 70% in one week.

I knew Death Valley was drier, but 0.6" being a 1/4" above normal annual really shocked me.

I believe the author made a mistake. The first part of the article says it rained more than 1/4 the annual rainfall in one day. A couple weather sites say 2” is the average annual rainfall in Death Valley.

Those are new boots he’s wearing. We figured he wouldn’t need the waterproof version in the driest place in North America. Murphy has got nothing on us.