Death Valley, ‘the driest place in North America,’ gets hit hard by flooding again

Death Valley, one of the hottest, driest places on the planet, is having a wet November to remember.

Pacific storms have brought heavy rains to Death Valley National Park in the past week, causing multiple road closures due to flooding.

The park is under a flood watch until Wednesday, thanks to a new storm that arrived Tuesday.

“Heavy rain this morning has caused widespread flooding and road damage. Many roads are closed, and driving in even shallow water can be dangerous,” park officials said in a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday.

On Monday, park officials said Saturday’s storm “produced 0.6 inches of rain at Furnace Creek … more than a quarter of the annual rainfall for Death Valley.”

The park has steep, rocky terrain and water runs off quickly, creating fast-moving flows of mud, rock and debris, park officials said in a statement. The subsequent floods cover roads and erode road shoulders, making travel hazardous.

Officials said North Highway and Badwater Road, damaged by late-summer flooding, had reopened for only two days before being closed again by the weekend storm.

Roads closed due to storm damage

— Highway 190 west from mile 14 to 37 is closed. (This is outside the park, no access to Lone Pine.)

— Badwater Road

— Artist Drive (no bikes)

— North Highway (Scotty’s Castle Road)

— Beatty Cutoff

— West Side Road

— Bonnie Clare Road (no hiking or biking)

— Emigrant Canyon Road

— Lower & Upper Wildrose Roads

— Darwin Falls Road

— Salt Creek Road

— Titus Canyon (one-way section) (no bikes)

Check the park’s website for current road conditions/closures.

Recent floods

In August 2023, record-breaking rain and flooding caused the park to shut down. The Aug. 20 rainfall dumped an all-time daily high rain amount of 2.2 inches at Furnace Creek.

“We are the driest place in North America, and we got a year’s worth of rain in 24 hours,” park ranger Matthew Lamar told journalists during a tour.

It was the second time in two years that record rain closed the 3.4-million-acre national park, which is about a 2½-hour drive from Las Vegas.

In August 2022, Tropical Storm Hilary’s rainfall broke the previous record of 1.7 inches. That rainfall also caused historic damage and stranded about 1,000 people — about 500 visitors and another 500 workers and staffers — inside the park.

Contact Mark Davis at mdavis@reviewjournal.com.