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Meteorological Conditions At Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: Implications For Rock Production And Transport, Ralph D. Lorenz, Brian K. Jackson, Jason W. Barnes, Joseph N. Spitale, Jani Radebaugh, Kevin H. Baines

Brian Jackson

Three decades of weather records at meteorological stations near Death Valley National Park are analyzed in an attempt to gauge the frequency of conditions that might form and erase the famous trails of wind-blown rocks in the mud of Racetrack Playa. Trail formation requires the playa to be wet, followed by strong winds and/or freezing conditions. Weather records are compared with a limited set of meteorological data that were acquired in situ at the playa over three winters and that indicate freezing on 50, 29, and 15 nights during the winters of 2007/08–09/10, respectively, as well as with the hydrological …