Wet and Dry, Fire and Ice: Visiting Seven of America’s Natural Wonders VOICE ONE: Now, we are at the hottest, driest and lowest place in North America. Death Valley is part of the Mojave Desert. It lies mostly in the western state of California although part of it reaches into Nevada. An area called Badwater sits about eighty-six meters below sea level. There is not really any water there. The area gets fewer than five centimeters of rain a year. During the summer the temperature in Death Valley can reach fifty- seven degrees Celsius. But, it can be dangerously cold in the winter there, too. And storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the valley floor. In other words, Death Valley is an unforgiving place. The heat has killed people in the past. And it will continue to kill those who are not careful in dealing with the area’s extreme climate. Death Valley holds much evidence of nature’s past violence. For example, there is Ubehebe [u-be-he-be] Crater. This hole is about one kilometer across and more than two hundred thirty meters deep. It is the remains of a major volcanic explosion about two thousand years ago.