The hottest air temperature ever reliably recorded in a desert was 134 degrees F in Death Valley of the Mojave Desert in California on July 10, 1913.
This blending of immigrant agricultural practices with Native American traditions in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina resulted in a distinctive regional agricultural heritage.
Lowlands to east of the ranges are comparatively dry. Orographic lifting, in which air is forced up the windward side of slopes, hills, and mountain ranges, is an important process in producing clouds and precipitation. As in thermal lifting, the air is cooled by the adiabatic process.