Planned power cut at Death Valley on Saturday means no escaping 116-degree heat

If you’re going to Death Valley National Park on Saturday, be prepared to sweat big-time. The park will be without power from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — meaning you may be facing triple-digit heat without the benefit of air-conditioning at visitor centers and resorts.

The temperature is forecast to reach 116 degrees during the planned 12-hour power outage Saturday that’s needed to repair damaged power lines, according to a park statement.

“If they are concerned with the heat, visitors should not come,” park spokeswoman Abby Wines says Thursday in an email. “If they do come, the best way to cool off is by using AC in their vehicles.”

The park’s website notes the power cut will affect the Furnace Creek Visitor Center & Museum as well as Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells resorts.

Furnace Creek Resort will remain open, with the restaurant and general store operational, Clark R. Davis, director of sales and marketing, says in an email. However don’t expect the resort to be cool.

“We have generators, but most of the air conditioning systems are not … connected to the generators,” he wrote. “The temperature is [forecast] to be 77 in the morning. But it will be toasty midday and later.”

If you still plan to go, check out the alerts and heat safety recommendations at Death Valley National Park’s website.

In extreme summer heat, visitors are advised to drink plenty of water (and carry extra too) and to stop hiking after 10 a.m. You should tour by car — sticking to paved roads, not dirt or gravel off-road routes — not on foot.

Know too that if you get into trouble, your cellphone may not work in much of the park.

Saturday’s power cut is needed to repair a section of power line near the park’s eastern entrance that was damaged by a thunderstorm July 1. At the time, electricity was out for 38 hours before one of three power poles was temporarily repaired.

As for the heat, Death Valley notched its hottest June on record this year. The average temperature was 101.9 degrees, exceeding its historic average June heat by about 6 degrees.

A reading of 126 degrees was recorded on June 21.

The “hottest place on earth” holds the record for the highest officially recorded temperature in the world: 134 degrees on July 10, 1913.

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