True. While I have never been to Death Valley, I have been to Big Bend which is a Desert that borders Texas and Mexico on the Rio Grande. I went in July. Evening temps were 100's and day temps were 110-115+. No breeze, just the sun blazing on you - nothing like a 100 degree day elsewhere were there is a breeze and some shade here and there. I was driving the scenic road thru Big Bend National Park where I saw ruins of an old ranch I parked the car and started on the path to the house.....literally within just a short distance I was feeling the effects of the heat and turned back. It really is life threatening in the desert.
It's hotter than Death Valley here
- Thread starter atikovi
- Start date
Hi Astro, I am from El Centro! It is “Hell Centro” during the summer months. Did you practice strafing and bombing out there?
I was born and raised in MD - about 45min from DC and I know the feeling! DC was always a humid hot place to be.
With Death Valley there's a unique terrain that turns it into somewhat of a convection oven. The air gets trapped and doesn't escape. But apparently this big heat wave we're seeing now is something similar, but on a much larger scale.
I know what the conversation will be in about 6 months 
.
.The desert is satanically hot, but once the dew point gets over 85F the human body starts to lose the ability to cool itself. That’s why the Bedouins in the ME wear loose fitting, light colored clothing & don’t do much in the daytime, minimizing heatstroke risk.
Used to own a vacation home in Florence. I rather enjoyed the 115 days. Everybody else seemed to stay inside (probably smarter than I).
Yep. It has been triple digits in Vegas for the last 10 days and it's an oven.
Sure did! Summer out there was tough, but the flying was great.
NAF El Centro was a place I flew from frequently when I was instructing in the F-14.
We would go out there 8-10 times a year, for two weeks at a time.
Sitting under a huge bubble canopy, in that sun, wearing a flight suit, g-suit, boots, gloves, survival vest, parachute harness and helmet, it could get pretty hot.
But when the jet was flying, it would cool off rapidly.
I always wanted to go to death Valley. January sounds like an opportune time.
Spring time would be best because of the wild flowers, but peak wildflower season varies depending on winter rainfall and springtime weather. Worth it though, if you time it right.
Understand you are out in a sparsely populated area. Gas up before getting there. Dining choices are limited but The Saloon is by far the best IMO.
And lastly, unless you are a hardcore tourist, trekker, or off roader I wouldn’t suggest more than three nights max in Death Valley. Sue and I spent two nights/three days there and we were ready to leave. But I can get bored quickly.
Scott
The dewpoint is stifling. You instantly sweat when walking outside. 95F on the east coast feels so much different than the dryer/western heat.
Fall to winter typically is tolerable, but there can be variations where it's fairly hot.
I went there during a trip to Vegas. That was also during an almost record cold spell where it was near freezing temps in Vegas. I think it might have been about 75ºF when we got to Death Valley.
We got a break from a string of 100° days, At 83° right now & I'm enjoying it!
Typical summer day here in North Texas is high humidity in the morning, That burns off from Noon to 2PM, Then it gets really hot.
Typical summer day here in North Texas is high humidity in the morning, That burns off from Noon to 2PM, Then it gets really hot.
I'm with you OP, whether calling it Death Valley is accurate or hyperbole makes no difference it was stupid hot here today (I'm in the center of Montgomery County), did the bare minimum outdoors but still had to grill the steaks and it was hot as balls even in the shade. No breeze to speak of either.
So the whole thing in Top Gun about everyone sweating everywhere (cockpit, ships) was just Hollywood taking liberties for dramatic effect? You don't say.
Similar threads
- Question
