One motorcyclist died from suspected heat exposure and another was hospitalized for severe heat illness on Saturday amid record temperatures in California’s Death Valley National Park, park officials said.
The deceased motorcyclist was not identified or described by age or sex, and the condition of the hospitalized patient was not available.
The Inyo County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for information.
Four other members of the same group of cyclists were treated at the scene for “heat stress,” National Park Service ranger Nichole L. Andler said in an email Sunday.
The park service said in a statement Sunday that the six were walking near Badwater Basin, a salt marsh area of the park that includes the lowest point in North America.
The area is south of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, where the National Weather Service recorded a high temperature of 128 degrees late Saturday afternoon, a reading 1 degree above the previous July 6 high set in 2007.
Science was not working in cyclists’ favor, the park service indicated. Temperatures were well above the 99-degree line, above which ambient air provides little cooling to humans, he said.
Motorcyclists often wear thick, heavy protective gear, making cooling even more difficult. And helicopters that serve as air ambulances that can more quickly traverse the expanse of the Mojave Desert are often grounded when takeoff becomes difficult in the warmer air, which scatters molecules that favor wider wings or blades and Herculean thrust.
“High heat like this can pose real threats to your health,” park superintendent Mike Reynolds said in Sunday’s release. “While this is a very exciting time to experience potentially world record temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully.”
The park, under an “extreme summer heat” warning, advises visitors to avoid hiking after 10am and to be prepared for life-threatening heat, paying attention to clothing, shade and water intake. The park service also warns that there is often no cell phone signal in Death Valley.
The National Weather Service has predicted record heat for Death Valley almost through midweek as it bakes under a dome of high pressure that is warming much of the West.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
