Current:Home > NewsTourists flock to Death Valley to experience near-record heat wave-LoTradeCoin
Tourists flock to Death Valley to experience near-record heat wave
View Date:2024-12-23 21:14:15
One of hottest places on Earth is drawing more visitors this week, not in spite of near-record high temperatures but because of them.
Tourists are flocking to Death Valley National Park — a narrow, 282-foot basin on the California-Nevada border — to experience how the triple-digit temperatures feel against their skin.
Death Valley is home to Furnace Creek, an unincorporated community that includes a visitors center and an outdoor digital thermometer. Dozens of people have gathered at the temperature reading in recent days, some wearing fur coats as an ironic joke, to experience the heat and snap a picture to impress family and friends on social media.
"I just want to go to a place, sort of like Mount Everest, to say, you know, you did it," William Cadwallader of Las Vegas told the Associated Press this week, adding that he visits Death Valley regularly.
The tourism uptick started late last week and reached an inflection point Sunday when Death Valley reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit, just seven degrees shy of the highest temperature recorded on Earth — 134 degrees Fahrenheit at Furnace Creek on July 1913.
Death Valley is situated below sea level but is nestled among steep mountain ranges, according to the park service's website. The bone-dry air and meager plant coverage allows sunlight to heat up the desert surface. The rocks and the soil emit all that heat in turn, which then becomes trapped in the depths of the valley.
"It's very hot," said Alessia Dempster, who was visiting from Edinburgh, Scotland. "I mean, especially when there's a breeze, you would think that maybe that would give you some slight relief from the heat, but it just really does feel like an air blow dryer just going back in your face."
Daniel Jusehus, a runner visiting Death Valley from Germany, snapped a photo earlier this week of a famed thermometer after challenging himself to a run in the sweltering heat.
- Doctors urge caution with 90 million Americans under extreme heat warnings
- Nearly 20 million people across U.S. under heat alerts
"I was really noticing, you know, I didn't feel so hot, but my body was working really hard to cool myself," Jusehus said.
Death Valley's brutal temperatures come amid a blistering stretch of hot weather that's put roughly one-third of Americans under a heat advisory, watch or warning. Heat waves aren't as visually dramatic as other natural disasters, but experts say they're more deadly. A heat wave in parts of the South and Midwest killed more than a dozen people last month.
–The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Khristopher J. BrooksKhristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
TwitterveryGood! (8754)
Related
- Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for $35M
- Loran Cole executed in murder of Florida State University student whose sister was raped
- Is job growth just slowing from post-pandemic highs? Or headed for a crash?
- Lamont nominates Justice Raheem L. Mullins to become next chief justice of Connecticut Supreme Court
- Federal judge orders Oakland airport to stop using ‘San Francisco’ in name amid lawsuit
- Why 'Reagan' star Dennis Quaid is nostalgic for 'liberal Republicans'
- A Hong Kong court convicts 2 journalists in a landmark sedition case
- No cupcakes at school for birthdays? Teacher says they're 'too messy' in viral video
- Brian Kelly asks question we're all wondering after Alabama whips LSU, but how to answer?
- As Lego goes green, costs will rise but customer prices won't, company says. Here's why.
Ranking
- Two 'incredibly rare' sea serpents seen in Southern California waters months apart
- Baywatch’s Jeremy Jackson Confesses to Smelling Costars' Dirty Swimsuits
- Love Is Blind UK Star Reveals 5 Couples Got Engaged Off-Camera
- Autopsy determines man killed in Wisconsin maximum-security prison was strangled
- Republican David Schweikert wins reelection in affluent Arizona congressional district
- Blake Lively’s Brother-in-Law Bart Johnson Fiercely Defends Her Amid It Ends With Us Criticism
- Wells Fargo employee found dead at office desk four days after clocking in
- Leah Remini and Husband Angelo Pagán Break Up After 21 Years of Marriage
Recommendation
-
Inflation ticked up in October, CPI report shows. What happens next with interest rates?
-
One Tech Tip: How to get the most life out of your device
-
Zappos Labor Day 60% Off Sale: Insane Deals Start at $10 Plus $48 Uggs, $31 Crocs & $60 On Cloud Sneakers
-
What to know about Day 1 of the Paralympics: How to watch, top events Thursday
-
Today Reveals Hoda Kotb's Replacement
-
The Latest: Trump to campaign in Michigan, Wisconsin; Harris will have sit-down interview with CNN
-
Typhoon lashes Japan with torrential rain and strong winds on a slow crawl north
-
The 15 games that will decide the College Football Playoff field