Eastern California is a region defined as either the strip to the east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada or as the easternmost counties of California .
44-605: Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California , in the northern Mojave Desert , bordering the Great Basin Desert . It is thought to be the hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. It is 84.6 miles (136.2 km) east-southeast of Mount Whitney – the highest point in
88-399: A broad "shadow" of dry climate region behind the mountain crests . This climate typically takes the form of shrub–steppe , xeric shrublands or even deserts . The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range. As atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that
132-490: A mile-long shallow depression in the center of the valley, supports Death Valley Pupfish . These isolated pupfish populations are remnants of the wetter Pleistocene climate. Darwin Falls , on the western edge of Death Valley Monument, falls 100 feet (30 m) into a large pond surrounded by willows and cottonwood trees. Over 80 species of birds have been recorded around the pond. Efflorescence , also known as salt flowers ,
176-563: A number of key contributors: Severe heat and dryness contribute to perpetual drought-like conditions in Death Valley and prevent much cloud formation from passing through the confines of the valley, where precipitation is often in the form of a virga . The depth and shape of Death Valley strongly influence its climate. The valley is a long, narrow basin that descends below sea level and is walled by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear, dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to heat
220-658: A population of 50,000 or greater, according to the 2020 census: Because Eastern California is generally in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada or the Transverse Ranges , the climate is extremely dry and can be considered a desert . Indeed, the hottest and lowest area in North America lies in Death Valley , in the heart of Eastern California. Geologically, Eastern California is mostly part of
264-631: A verified temperature of 129.2 °F (54.0 °C) was recorded and is tied with Mitribah , Kuwait , for the hottest reliably measured air temperature ever recorded on Earth. A temperature of 130 °F (54.4 °C) was recorded at the Furnace Creek weather station on August 16, 2020, but has not yet been officially verified. The valley again recorded that temperature on July 9, 2021; however, that temperature has not yet been officially verified either. The valley's lowest temperature, recorded at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek) on January 2, 1913,
308-472: Is Telescope Peak , in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet (3,366 m). A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849–1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Although only one of the group members died here, they all assumed that the valley would be their grave. Death Valley is home to
352-830: Is 2.36 inches (60 mm), while the Greenland Ranch station averaged 1.58 in (40 mm). The wettest month on record is January 1995, when 2.59 inches (66 mm) fell on Death Valley. The wettest period on record was mid-2004 to mid-2005, in which nearly 6 inches (150 mm) of rain fell in total, leading to ephemeral lakes in the valley and the region and tremendous wildflower blooms. Snow with accumulation has only been recorded in January 1922, while scattered flakes have been recorded on other occasions. See or edit raw graph data . In 2005, Death Valley received four times its average annual rainfall of 1.5 inches (38 mm). As it has done before for hundreds of years,
396-564: Is a rare occurrence in Death Valley that occurs when rain soaks into the soil and dissolves salt beneath the surface causing the ground to appear as if there is a light dusting of snow . Death Valley is home to the Timbisha tribe of Native Americans , formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone, who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium. The Timbisha name for the valley, tümpisa , means "rock paint" and refers to
440-432: Is disputed; a record high low of 107 °F (42 °C) on July 12, 2012, is considered reliable. This is one of the highest values ever recorded. Also on July 12, 2012, the mean 24-hour temperature recorded at Death Valley was 117.5 °F (47.5 °C), which makes it the world's warmest 24-hour temperature on record. July 2024 was the hottest month ever recorded in Death Valley, with a mean daily average temperature over
484-525: Is located in Eastern California. Source: Rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds , known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes ) is carried by the prevailing onshore breezes towards the drier and hotter inland areas. When encountering elevated landforms ,
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#1732772640057528-516: Is the highest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on the Earth's surface. (A report of a temperature of 58 °C (136 °F) in Libya in 1922 was later determined to be inaccurate.) During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached 129 °F (54 °C) or higher. Some modern meteorologists now dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement. On June 30, 2013,
572-428: Is very high fire danger and there have been several devastating wildfires. The northern counties of Eastern California are heavily timbered areas. The timber industry is a major contributor to the economy from sale of timber and forest products and the number of jobs that it provides. These timbered areas not only provide valuable income, but are also the main growing sector for the economy for recreation and tourism. In
616-502: The Basin and Range Province , marked by crustal extension, with horsts and grabens . Volcanism is also evident in this region. The majority of Eastern California experiences two seasons, a long, dry summer and a milder winter in which the rain is concentrated. Most higher elevations experience four distinct seasons. There are some areas where the weather is very diverse. The Sierra Nevada mountain range has larger amounts of snowfall, while
660-533: The California Gold Rush . It was called Death Valley by prospectors and others who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields, after 13 pioneers perished from one early expedition of wagon trains. During the 1850s, gold and silver were extracted in the valley. In the 1880s, borax was discovered and extracted by mule-drawn wagons . Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed on February 11, 1933, by President Herbert Hoover , placing
704-857: The Death Valley Fault and the Furnace Creek Fault . The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault. Furnace Creek and the Amargosa River flow through part of the valley and eventually disappear into the sands of the valley floor. Death Valley also contains salt pans . According to current geological consensus, at various times during the middle of the Pleistocene era, which ended roughly 10,000–12,000 years ago, an inland lake, Lake Manly , formed in Death Valley. The lake
748-740: The Southern Hemisphere . The westerlies are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude , blowing predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere. Some of the strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties of the Southern Hemisphere, between 30 and 50 degrees latitude. Examples of notable rain shadowing include: On
792-479: The Timbisha tribe of Native Americans, formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone , who have inhabited the valley for at least the past millennium. Death Valley is a graben —a downdropped block of land between two mountain ranges. It lies at the southern end of a geological trough , Walker Lane , which runs north to Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral strike slip fault system, comprising
836-634: The contiguous United States , with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, which stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded on the surface of the Earth. This reading, however, and several others taken in that period are disputed by some modern experts. Lying mostly in Inyo County, California , near
880-472: The red ocher paint that can be made from a type of clay found in the valley. Some families still live in the valley at Furnace Creek. Another village was in Grapevine Canyon near the present site of Scotty's Castle . It was called maahunu in the Timbisha language , whose meaning is uncertain, although it is known that hunu means 'canyon'. The valley received its English name in 1849 during
924-506: The Imperial Valley has more arid conditions. The Sierra Nevada's average temperature is around 47 °F (8 °C) and the Imperial Valley is on average 73 °F (23 °C). A record-breaking heat temperature was recorded in Death Valley, at 134 °F (57 °C) on July 10, 1913. With its low and often sporadic rainfall, California is susceptible to drought, and in many parts of the state including Eastern California, there
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#1732772640057968-517: The Sierra Nevada National Forests they experience 50 million recreational visitor days per year. When California became a state, it was one of the leading producers of these timber and forest products. Since then, it has held the third place for the top producer of softwoods since the 1940s. In California there were five counties that contributed to 55 percent of the wood harvested for the state. One of those counties, Plumas,
1012-783: The West Coast: Most rain shadows in the western United States are due to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California and Cascade Mountains , mostly in Oregon and Washington . The Colorado Front Range is limited to precipitation that crosses over the Continental Divide . While many locations west of the Divide may receive as much as 1,000 millimetres (40 in) of precipitation per year, some places on
1056-484: The air reaches its adiabatic dew point (which is not the same as its constant pressure dew point commonly reported in weather forecasts). At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top and windward sides of the mountain. The air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. Typically, descending air also gets warmer because of adiabatic compression (as with foehn winds) down
1100-629: The area under federal protection. In 1994, the monument was redesignated as Death Valley National Park , as well as being substantially expanded to include Saline and Eureka Valleys. A number of movies have been filmed in Death Valley, including: Eastern California According to the 2010 census, the population of the eastern border counties of California was 5,129,384. However, 4,224,851 (82.4%) lived in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, which are very large and whose populations are concentrated near Los Angeles and Orange counties to
1144-963: The border of California and Nevada , in the Great Basin , east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve . It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west. The Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km). The highest point in Death Valley National Park
1188-716: The counties of San Bernardino and Riverside form the 13th-largest metropolitan area of the United States, and El Dorado and Placer Counties are part of the Greater Sacramento area and are culturally influenced by their respective metropolitan areas. Imperial County in the Southeast, though rural and agrarian, is heavily Democratic and has ties with the Mexicali Valley to the south. Northeastern California has had strong ties to Nevada, with
1232-414: The desert surface. Summer nights provide little relief: overnight lows may dip just into the 82 to 98 °F (28 to 37 °C) range. Moving masses of super-heated air blow through the valley, creating extremely high ambient temperatures. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 °F (56.7 °C), on July 10, 1913, at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek ), which, as of 2022,
1276-471: The eastern side, notably the cities of Denver and Pueblo, Colorado , typically receive only about 12 to 19 inches. Thus, the Continental Divide acts as a barrier for precipitation. This effect applies only to storms traveling west-to-east. When low pressure systems skirt the Rocky Mountains and approach from the south, they can generate high precipitation on the eastern side and little or none on
1320-553: The exact boundary between the two states having once been a matter of dispute. Residents of an area near Susanville, California tried to break away from the state in 1856, first by declaring themselves part of the Nataqua Territory and then through annexation to Nevada. The two states further squabbled over ownership of Susanville in 1863. The town of Aurora, Nevada , was temporarily the county seat of both Mono County, California , and Esmeralda County, Nevada . Finally,
1364-759: The largest scale, the entirety of the North American Interior Plains are shielded from the prevailing Westerlies carrying moist Pacific weather by the North American Cordillera . More pronounced effects are observed, however, in particular valley regions within the Cordillera, in the direct lee of specific mountain ranges. This includes much of the Basin and Range Province in the United States and Mexico . The Pacific Coast Ranges create rain shadows near
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1408-470: The leeward side of the mountain, which increases the amount of moisture that it can absorb and creates an arid region. There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in bands round Earth's equatorial region. The zone designated the trade winds is the zone between about 30° N and 30° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in
1452-841: The line between the two states was settled by a survey in 1892. Over time, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's water security . There are many unique historical aspects of Eastern California including the Manzanar internment camp and the historical Carson and Colorado Railway . The easternmost counties of California are (from north to south): Cities within this region include San Bernardino , Riverside , Ontario , Corona , Rancho Cucamonga , Roseville , Victorville , Temecula , Palm Springs , Lincoln , El Centro , Barstow , South Lake Tahoe , Susanville , Truckee , Grass Valley , Placerville , and Alturas . The following incorporated places have
1496-466: The lowest spot in the valley filled with a wide, shallow lake, but the extreme heat and aridity immediately began evaporating the ephemeral lake . The pair of images (seen at right) from NASA's Landsat 5 satellite documents the short history of Death Valley's Lake Badwater : formed in February 2005 (top) and evaporated by February 2007 (bottom). In 2005, a big pool of greenish water stretched most of
1540-493: The modern history of the region, primarily 1883 to 1907. Death Valley has a subtropical , hot desert climate ( Köppen : BWh ), with long, extremely hot summers; short, warm winters; and little rainfall. The valley is extremely dry because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and Panamint Range ). Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over
1584-480: The moist air is driven upslope towards the peak , where it expands, cools, and its moisture condenses and starts to precipitate . If the landforms are tall and wide enough, most of the humidity will be lost to precipitation over the windward side (also known as the rainward side) before ever making it past the top. As the air descends the leeward side of the landforms, it is compressed and heated, producing foehn winds that absorb moisture downslope and cast
1628-423: The month of 108.5 °F (42.5 °C). Four major mountain ranges lie between Death Valley and the ocean, each one adding to an increasingly drier rain shadow effect, and in 1929, 1953, and 1989, no rain was recorded for the whole year. The period from 1931 to 1934 was the driest stretch on record, with only 0.64 inches (16 mm) of rain over a 40-month period. The average annual precipitation in Death Valley
1672-447: The mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes. When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture in the air has already been lost and thus there is little left to fall as precipitation. The extreme heat of Death Valley is attributable to a confluence of geographic and topographic factors. Scientists have identified
1716-452: The mouths of the canyons, they widen and slow, branching out into distributary channels. The paler the fans, the younger they are. In spite of the overwhelming heat and sparse rainfall, Death Valley exhibits considerable biodiversity. Flowers, watered by snowmelt, carpet the desert floor each spring, continuing into June. Bighorn sheep , red-tailed hawks , and wild donkeys may be seen. Death Valley has over 600 springs and ponds. Salt Creek,
1760-470: The southwest. Eastern California's history differs significantly from that of the coastal regions and the Central Valley . Northeastern California is very sparsely populated (except for the area around Lake Tahoe ): the three least-populated counties of California lie in the northeast. The area tends to be politically conservative , much like the rest of the rural Western United States . However,
1804-458: The way across the valley floor. By May 2005, the valley floor had resumed its more familiar role as Badwater Basin , salt-coated salt flats . In time, this freshly dissolved and recrystallized salt will darken. The western margin of Death Valley is traced by alluvial fans . During flash floods , rainfall from the steep mountains to the west pours through narrow canyons, picking up everything from fine clay to large rocks. When these torrents reach
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1848-428: Was 15 °F (−9 °C). The highest surface temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 201.0 °F (93.9 °C), 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 temperature of above 200 °F (93.3 °C). The greatest number of consecutive days with a maximum temperature of at least 100 °F (38 °C)
1892-399: Was 154, in the summer of 2001. The summer of 1996 had 40 days over 120 °F (49 °C), and 105 days over 110 °F (43 °C). The summer of 1917 had 52 days when the temperature reached 120 °F (49 °C) or above, 43 of them consecutive. The highest overnight or low temperature recorded in Death Valley is 110 °F (43 °C), recorded on July 5, 1918. However, this value
1936-592: Was nearly 100 miles (160 km) long and 600 feet (180 m) deep. The end-basin in a chain of lakes that began with Mono Lake , in the north, and continued through basins down the Owens River Valley , through Searles and China Lakes and the Panamint Valley, to the immediate west. As the area turned to desert, the water evaporated, leaving an abundance of evaporitic salts, such as common sodium salts and borax , which were later exploited during
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