The thermometer display at Furnace Creek Visitor Center stopped working while displaying 667°F. Park staff say it was resetting itself after a power bump when the power completely went off/NPS

The recent heat wave that baked the West was particularly brutal in Death Valley National Park, which saw nine consecutive days with the temperature reaching at least 125° Fahrenheit.

Compounding the life-sapping heat was a thunderstorm last Saturday that knocked out a powerline substation that provided electricity to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, National Park Service offices in the park, and employee housing. Southern California Edision supplied a generator that allowed the visitor center to reopen Monday. However, NPS housing and offices remained without power, and the affected employees, families, and their pets were moved into nearby hotels.

Park visitors were only affected by the visitor center closure. Hotels, restaurants, and gas stations in the park did not lose power.

The heat wave generated the daily 125°+ Fahrenheit temperatures from July 4-12. Average high temperatures for Death Valley in July are 117°F, according to the park. The recent heat wave included three daily heat records and peaked at 129.3°F (53.9°C) on July 7.

On Saturday, July 6, a park visitor on motorcycle died from heat exposure near Badwater Basin at Death Valley. Another visitor was treated for severe heat illness and transported to advanced medical care in Las Vegas, four others were treated onsite and released. All six motorcyclists were members of the same party. 

This was the park’s second-longest streak of high temperatures at or above 125 degrees, just behind the ten-day streak measured in 1913, the park added in a release.

The National Park Service encourages park visitors to stay safe in the summer by not hiking at low elevations after 10 am, staying within a short walk of air conditioning, drinking plenty of water, and eating salty snacks.