# Summer Solstice at Badwater, Death Valley... Hot Stuff! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411 "2017-06-20T01:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/1 "2017-06-20T01:52:38Z")
Every year around the Summer Solstice, Badwater (elevation - 278.9′) in Death Valley, California often reaches temperatures around 130 degrees. This year is no different. Tomorrow, Tuesday June 20, the forecast is for the temperature to reach 129 degrees around 5 pm. Tonight’s low is supposed to be 100 degrees so the temperature only has to rise 30 degrees during the day to hit the magic 130 number. The area around Badwater promises to be absolutely crawling with weather geeks from around the world hoping to be able to claim. “I was there”. What’s the highest temperature you have experienced? I was in Palm Springs, CA years ago when it hit 122. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/2 "2017-06-20T02:27:16Z")
117F (47.2C) on June 30, 2013 here in Las Vegas. And it looks like I’ll get to experience it again tomorrow. I may have experienced hotter temps than that in some locations while hiking, but I have no way of getting an “official” temperature for un-named canyons and arroyos in Nevada and Arizona. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/3 "2017-06-20T12:10:29Z")
There was a big family reunion at my grandparent’s farm when I was a kid. We cousins were playing outside. Someone inside called out to tell us it the radio said it was 113. We kept on playing. It was a record high but it got beat years later. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/4 "2017-06-20T12:44:17Z")
124 in Desert Hot Springs in August. It was hot. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/5 "2017-06-20T12:54:03Z")
About 5:45am in Badwater right now. 101 degrees! > **[Badwater, CA Weather Forecast | AccuWeather](https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/badwater/92384/weather-forecast/2154856)** > > Badwater, CA Weather Forecast, with current conditions, wind, air quality, and what to expect for the next 3 days. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/6 "2017-06-20T13:12:09Z")
111 at ten in the morning. Then it began to warm up. We also are having find that knocked at least one nice pebble onto my windshield. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/7 "2017-06-20T13:38:34Z")
I recall it getting up to about 110F in Bamako, Mali when we lived there. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/8 "2017-06-20T15:31:23Z")
I was in Phoenix in 1994 when they had the record-setting heatwave with temps in the 120-degree range. That was the year they suspended take offs at Sky Harbor–which is apparently happening this week too. I also experienced the big heatwave in the northwest in 2009–here’s an un-retouched image that I took of the [Olive Hut Thermometer](https://goo.gl/photos/jqy557wYF6G85o6VA) in Corning, California. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/9 "2017-06-20T16:35:48Z")
I’ve been at Badwater when it was 129° (July 2010, I think). I would prefer not to do it again. That’s 54° C, for the foreigners among us. It’s an utterly ridiculous temperature. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/10 "2017-06-20T16:57:44Z")
Lived in Abu Dhabi 1999-2003, afternoon temperatures in the summer were 110-125F every day from June to September. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/11 "2017-06-20T18:52:43Z")
I lived in Saudi Arabia… 125 plus. Qatar 120 and humid. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/12 "2017-06-20T19:13:41Z")
I once hiked from The Thousand Palms oasis in the Coachella valley across the desert to the nearby Indian Palms oasis 1.5 miles away in August with the shade temp being 118. You sure know you’re alive when it feels like you might not be for much longer. It was actually quite lovely in the shade of the Indian Palms oasis, with a breeze blowing, and humidity of maybe 4%. But we had the right clothes for the hike and LOTS and LOTS of very cold water. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/13 "2017-06-20T20:36:01Z")
106 F. Yeah, I know. Wimpy. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/14 "2017-06-20T20:51:32Z")
It was 114 in my home town in the 2009 bay area heat wave. We went out to dinner because we didn’t want to heat up the house, but just as we ordered our dinner, there was a power outage city-wide and they couldn’t serve. We struggled home in the gridlocked traffic and ate cold cereal and milk. I think I remember that we registered the highest temp in the state that day. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/15 "2017-06-20T21:00:29Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Qatar 120 and humid. Good thing no one’s planning on having foreigners engage in strenuous activity like outdoor sports in Qatar anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/16 "2017-06-20T22:15:10Z")
Now I’m feeling homesick for my hometown of Fairbanks. How do people not die when temperatures are over 105? It’s a dry heat, is that what you were about to say? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/17 "2017-06-20T22:39:35Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > How do people not die when temperatures are over 105? It’s a dry heat, is that what you were about to say? The human body is pretty well designed to dump excess heat, and it is easier in low humidity settings. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/18 "2017-06-20T22:41:02Z")
WE GOT IT! 130! 3:38 PDT > **[Badwater, CA Weather Forecast | AccuWeather](https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/badwater/92384/weather-forecast/2154856)** > > Badwater, CA Weather Forecast, with current conditions, wind, air quality, and what to expect for the next 3 days. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/19 "2017-06-20T22:47:00Z")
I will assume there will be no “happy dance”. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411/20 "2017-06-20T22:51:51Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > WE GOT IT! 130! 3:38 PDT I"m glad we picked this past February to visit Badwater and other Death Valley sites/sights. Any footage of tourists hanging out there at peak heat today? 🆒 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-solstice-at-badwater-death-valley-hot-stuff/789411.md?page=2)