Places of interest in the Death Valley area when gas escaped from the cooling lava. Some of these have been expanded or even merged by sandblasting. Non-stop winds on this ridge are concentrated and compressed at the top of the hill and are very fast as a result. These strong winds pick-up dust and sand (mostly from the two closest alluvial fans), which literally sand-blast exposed surfaces. Winds strong enough for sandblasting come from the north and the south. Places of interest in the Death Valley area Places of interest in the Death Valley area are mostly located within Death Valley National Park in eastern California. Artist's Drive
Death Valley Moving masses of super-heated air blow through the valley creating extremely high temperatures. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was on July 10, 1913, at Furnace Creek, which is the highest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on earth. During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached or above. Some meteorologists dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement. The highest surface temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was on July 15, 1972, at Furnace Creek, which is the highest ground surface temperature ever recorded on earth, as well as the only recorded surface