This section of the Death Valley temperature/climate study contains a bunch of original hygro-thermograph charts from Greenland Ranch, Cow Creek, and Death Valley. Farther below are some original forms from the USWB offices at Independence and Tonopah, including some additional info on conditions on and around July 10, 1913.
Go HERE for the links to the rest of the study.
Six years worth of thermograph records for Greenland Ranch, 1955-60. Note that the thermograph charts only goes up to about 120F or 116F or thereabouts. Since summer temperatures sometimes go above 120F here, the thermograph was set 10 or 20 degrees (F) lower than that indicated on the chart beginning in 1956. Check the notes on the charts carefully, or check the actual official high and low temperatures on the climate forms and compare to the charts, in order to know how many degrees to add. Some of the temperatures on the charts are changed to help out.
Towards the bottom of this batch of charts is the one for mid-July, 1960. A maximum temperature of 129F made it into the record books for Greenland Ranch on July 18th, 1960, but the thermograph trace shows 124F. The trace reaches about the same point as on the day after and before, which had official highs of 124F at Greenland Ranch. Therefore, the chart shows that the report of 129F on July 18th is not valid!
Cow Creek JJA, 1955 and 1957-1959
Four years of summer thermograph records were available for Cow Creek. Some of the charts go up to 150F or 130F. The ones for 1959 only go up to 110F, and the thermograph was set 20 degrees low.
These were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th summers at the Death Valley station near the “new” Visitors Center at Furnace Creek. The thermograph was set 20 degrees low for 1962 and 1963, which is good. The thermograph was NOT set 20 degrees low for 1964, which is NOT good. It was set to the actual temperature, and on many days this summer the thermograph trace went way up off of the chart. Fortunately, this was not an especially hot summer in Death Valley.
It appears that the thermograph was set 50 degrees low for the summer of 1965.
And for the summer of 1967, it appears that the observer or observers could not decide how much to lower the thermograph so that it would not go off the chart at temperatures above 110F. Check the official daily temperatures in Climatological Data or the Death Valley climate forms to compare the official high and low temperatures with the temperature trace for each day.
It looks like the charts for the summer of 1968 were set 30 degrees low. So, a trace mark at 80F means 110F. I haven’t double-checked these yet against actual observations.
The bottom line, for ALL of these — be advised that the Death Valley and Greenland and Cow Creek charts were usually adjusted in summer so that the temperature trace would not go off of the chart.
Independence Ave Monthly Mx Mn Independence July 1913 Daily
Independence July Daily maximums Independence Mon Ave Temps Independence Monthly Max Temps
Tonopah daily maximums Tonopah July 1913 Daily Tonopah Mon Ave Temps
Tonopah Monthly Ave Temps Tonopah monthly maximums
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