Death Valley National Park in California had record-high temperatures on Saturday when a motorcyclist died from what was thought to be heat exposure and another was taken to the hospital with serious heat illness.
The motorcyclist who died could not be named or described by age or gender, and the hospitalized patient’s state could not be found.
When asked for information, the Inyo County Coroner’s Office did not answer right away.
Four more riders in the same group were treated at the scene for “heat stress,” a National Park Service Ranger said Sunday by email.
The park service said in a statement on Sunday that the six were riding near Badwater Basin, which is in the park and has salt flats with the world’s lowest point.
The area is south of the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center. Late Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service reported a high temperature of 128 degrees there, which was 1 degree higher than the previous July 6 high setting in 2007.
The park service said that science was not on the riders’ side. It said the temperatures were well above the 99-degree line, which is the point at which normal air doesn’t cool people down much.
Motorcyclists often wear thick, heavy safety gear that makes it even harder to cool down. Helicopters that are used as air ambulances and can get through the Mojave Desert faster are often forced to land when it gets too warm for them to take off. This is because warmer air spreads molecules that make bigger wings or blades and stronger thrust easier to achieve.
“This kind of high heat can hurt your health,” park superintendent Mike Reynolds said in a statement on Sunday. “This is an exciting time to visit Death Valley because temperatures could set a new world record, but we urge visitors to be careful about what they do.”
An “extreme summer heat” alert means that the park warns tourists not to go hiking after 10 a.m. and to be ready for life-threatening heat by making sure they wear the right clothes, find shade, and drink plenty of water. The park service also says that Death Valley is a bad place to use a cell phone because the signal is often bad.
The National Weather Service said that Death Valley would have record-high temperatures until almost the middle of the week. This is because the area is baking under a high-pressure dome that is making the rest of the West hot.
