Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles, said Wednesday that “multiple years’ worth of precipitation” could potentially fall in some of California’s driest areas.
One of those places is Death Valley, California, the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley typically receives about 2 inches of rain across an entire year, according to NWS data. Moisture from Hilary could unleash enough rain to give Death Valley at least a year’s worth of rainfall in a single day.
Rainfall this exceptional proved destructive in Death Valley last year. Around 1,000 people became stranded in Death Valley National Park last August when 1.46 inches of rain fell in 24 hours and unleashed flash flooding that washed away roads and entombed cars in floodwater-swept debris.
end partial quote from:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/17/weather/tropical-storm-hilary-thursday/index.html
I described in a previous article my nearly fatal experience when around 1 inch of rain fell in the mountains near Big Bear and San Gorgonio Mountain which is the tallest mountain in southern California.
When water of an inch or more hits the desert there is nothing like trees or brush or grass to hold it back and keep it in one place so often what happens is walls of water can move across the desert and if you cannot outrun these walls of water moving across the desert in a car or truck or motorcycle you wouldn't live through this. So, if Death Valley is hit with 6 to 10 inches of rain you really don't want to be there then.
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