Why is Death Valley the hottest place on Earth? I thought it would be somewhere on the equator.
In: Geology
Lots of reasons. At high altitudes, there is less air density; as the air goes down it heats up and compresses. The air that gets to Death Valley also has to cross the Sierra Nevada range to the west, which has peaks above 14,000 feet. That really dries out the air too. So it is hot, dry air coming down to fill the Valley.
By the equator, there is a lot more water, on average, which keeps things cooler and more stable. Water can store up a lot of energy, and it takes a lot of energy to increase the temperature. It’s much easier to heat air and rock.
And then California typically has no rain for about 6 months of the year. So Death Valley gets no spring, summer, or fall rain, the clouds that pass by have hit the Sierras and had all the moisture wrung out of them, the air has to go over several large mountain ranges (Telescope Peak that overlooks Death Valley is 11,000 feet itself), and then the dry air gets heated further as it travels down from the Panamint range into the bottom of the valley.
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