Located 86 meters below sea level at its deepest point, this US national park is a hotspot for extreme weather events.
A very unusual event took place in Death Valley in the Mojave Desert in the USA. The rains of the last few days have been so heavy in this American national park – in the states of California and Nevada – that it caused massive flooding and “trapped” nearly a thousand people, half of whom were visitors and the other half workers.
At Furnace Creek, where Death Valley’s headquarters is located, the amount of water that fell in three hours over the weekend: 37.1 millimeters was remarkable. According to the National Park Service (NPS), this is equivalent to the average amount of precipitation in a year in the region.
“The heavy rain that caused the devastating flooding in Death Valley was an extremely rare event, occurring once every thousand years,” said Daniel Berc, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Weather Service.
The expert explained that the event does not occur exactly every 1,000 years, but refers to the fact that “there is a 0.1% probability in any given year”.
The air disaster caused extensive damage in Death Valley and closed all internal roads. Also, about 60 cars were stranded, NPS reported.
“Death Valley is an incredible place of extremes,” park superintendent Mike Reynolds said in a note released by the NPS.
“The hottest place on Earth and the driest place in North America. This week’s 1,000-year flood is another example of this extreme environment. With climate change models predicting more frequent and severe storms, this is where we can see climate. Change in action,” he added.
Death Valley in the Mojave Desert has its deepest point at 86 meters below sea level and recorded a maximum temperature of 56.7ºC. This mark was reached on July 10, 1913, and has never been crossed in the world.
This valley has been inhabited by the Timbisha tribe for at least 1000 years.
Its name was given by adventurers who dared to cross it in the early 19th century, driven by the gold rush.
It was declared a national park in 1994 – the largest in the country after Alaska – and more than a million people visit the site each year.
– This text was originally published https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62504605
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source: Noticias
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