June Bacon-Bercey delivers a forecast for Illinois and Missouri.

Description https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/weather.htm

Death Valley National Park is infamous in the United States. The name “Death Valley” isn’t random: the summer temperatures often reach 120 F/ 49 C, dropping to a balmy 90 F/ 35 C overnight. By why here, so close to the Pacific Ocean, sharing the state of California with beautiful beaches and lush palm trees, does nothing grow?

The aridity of Death Valley is the result of a rain shadow: between the Pacific Ocean and the rest of the country lie several mountain ranges. As warm, wet air comes off of the Ocean and attempts to “climb” over the mountains, it rapidly cools and falls as rain and snow. By the time the air reaches the California-Nevada border, Death Valley, the air is dry.

The heat is attributed to the shape. Like a bowl, Death Valley is one of the lowest points in the United States, about 282 feet/ 86 m below sea level. The lack of vegetation allows sunlight to reflect off of the light-colored ground against the mountains on either side, trapping it. 

Microsoft Paint, or another similar art program

1.      Access Zoom Earth and toggle these features: LIVE Satellite (top left), wind animation, rain radar, labels, and border lines (bottom right)

2.      Start by locating Death Valley: look at the border of Nevada and California. Death Valley lies to the northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, and east of Fresno, California.

3.      Once students think they find the park, have them take a screenshot/ use the Snipping Tool. Paste this image into Paint. Students should then outline (using the pencil tool) what they think are the borders of Death Valley National Park. Use context clues from the map: mountain ranges, air flow, vegetation Once finished, pull up a map to see how accurate they were. Save this file as “Death Valley Day 1.”

4.      For the next week, take a screenshot each day at roughly the same time. How does airflow change? Cloud cover? Precipitation?

5.      Compare what you see on the map to webcam viewings of Death Valley: https://weatherok.roundshot.com/deathvalley/#/

6.      Sometimes clouds may appear to cover Death Valley on the map. Why might this be?

a.      May be light clouds without much moisture/ very high, clouds at a distance/ near horizon, dust, or smoke

Standards for Junne Bacon-Bercey: Using Mapping Software