Alvord Desert
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The Alvord Desert is a
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
located in Harney County, in southeastern
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
in the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
. It is roughly southeast of Steens Mountain. The Alvord Desert is a dry lake bed and averages of
rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
a year. Two
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
s separate it from the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
—the Coast Range, and the
Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
. Along with Steens Mountain, these
topographical Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...
features create a
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
. The Alvord Desert lies at an elevation of approximately . During the dry season the surface is sufficiently flat for driving or landing small aircraft. Vehicle driving attempts to score
land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...
s are performed on the dry lake bed. The women's world land speed record was set in 1976 by Kitty O'Neil at , later surpassed in 2019 by
Jessi Combs Jessica Combs (July 27, 1980 – August 27, 2019) was an American professional racer, television personality, and metal fabricator. She set a women's land speed class record (four wheels) in 2013 and broke her own record in 2016. She was kno ...
at , although the latter died in the process because of a crash. The nearest community is
Fields, Oregon Fields is an unincorporated community in Harney County, Oregon, United States. The community is located south of Burns. It is the center of commerce for local ranches and the largest community between Denio, Nevada, to the south, and Fren ...
.


Name

The desert is named after General Benjamin Alvord, who served as commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Oregon during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.


Climate

The Alvord Desert experiences a
cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BWk''). The area receives very little rainfall throughout the year due to the rain shadow created by the Coast and Cascade mountain ranges as well the adjacent Steens Mountain. Some eastern areas of the desert may receive as little as of rain annually.


Winter

Winter temperatures in the Alvord Basin are moderated through airflow from the south that stops the temperature from dropping too heavily. While many areas in the Oregon High Desert frequently dip below through the winter months, the Alvord Desert rarely sees these frigid temperatures. On average, highs will commonly reach between , with a few rare instances where the temperature fails to break . At night, the temperature falls to between , but will not normally fall much further unless Arctic air masses arrive. The basin sees a moderate amount of its rainfall in the winter months from storms coming off the Pacific Ocean while the strong winter jet stream is aimed at the Pacific Northwest. Storms that are strong enough to bring moisture to the Southeastern area of Oregon are usually related to tropical storms feeding from the Hawaiian Islands. Snow does sometimes occur in the rare instances when cold air from the Arctic to the north meets a strong flow of moisture from the Pacific to the West.


Spring

Spring is when the bulk of precipitation falls from thunderstorms. These storms are attributed to the rainfall in April, May, and June that form in the south and move their way north across the desert and surrounding sagebrush plains. Clear nights continue to bring cold overnight temperatures which commonly drop to between , but afternoon warming raises temperatures to between in early spring and in late spring. This warming can help trigger thunderstorms in combination with the unstable spring atmosphere. Extremes in temperature can still be seen at this time of year where temperatures have fallen to in March, and climbed to over in early June. Rainfall turns the playa into a small lake, and for a short time, makes travel across it difficult.


Summer

Summer in the Alvord Desert has some of the hottest temperatures in the state of Oregon. High pressure sets in over the Pacific Northwest and the jet stream pushes north into Canada. This high pressure means very little precipitation, averaging less than throughout the summer months. Late day heat begins to set in by late June where highs reach between . In July the temperature commonly climbs to between . Night-time lows vary, with overnight temperatures dropping down between throughout much of the basin. In some locations temperatures will only drop to between . August remains hot with highs ranging between and lows between , though dropping towards the end of the month.


Fall

Fall is moderate with high temperatures ranging between and lows between . Fall is also one of the driest times of the year.


Geology

Three primary geothermal areas are along the western edge as well as cold springs following NE to SW trending normal faults. On the western edge of the desert is Alvord Hot Springs (). At the north is Mickey Hot Springs (): an assortment of bubbling mud, pools and, the occasional geyser. At the south is Borax Lake () which is a thermal spring complex. To the east is an unnamed natural hot spring, one of 40 or more along of the Alvord fault. To the southwest is seasonal alkali Alvord Lake which once extended north and south—covering the desert. Several of the geothermal features in Alvord Desert Basin have been examined by a team of scientists and geologists from the University of Idaho, Boise State University, and Idaho State University.


Fauna

Despite the barren nature of the playa, some opportunities for wildlife observation exist. Wild horses sometimes drink from the springs on the eastern edge of the desert. In areas where natural
hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
s flow into the playa, especially around the Alvord Hot Springs, one can usually find nesting long-billed curlew. Further out into the playa proper are numerous killdeer and
snowy plover The snowy plover (''Anarhynchus nivosus'') is a small shorebird found in the Americas. It is a member of the bird family Charadriidae, which includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The snowy plover was originally described by John Cassin ...
, along with the occasional American avocet. The outlet waters from the springs typically flow roughly one mile into the desert, and their reach roughly delineates the bird habitat. The nearby Steens Mountain Wilderness contains populations of
bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...
,
mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...
,
elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...
, and
pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...
. Further west is the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which is popular for birding.


Land speed record

The previous women's
Land Speed Record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...
was set at Alvord Desert by Kitty O'Neil, in the jet-powered '' SMI Motivator'', in 1976. O'Neil reached . On August 27, 2019,
Jessi Combs Jessica Combs (July 27, 1980 – August 27, 2019) was an American professional racer, television personality, and metal fabricator. She set a women's land speed class record (four wheels) in 2013 and broke her own record in 2016. She was kno ...
died while making back and forth runs at Alvord Desert in an attempt to break O'Neil's record, and in June 2020, ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
'' recognized Combs' runs on that date as the official new world record of .


Gallery

File:Alvord Desert sunset.jpg, Setting sun reflected off the playa File:SteensMountainOR.jpg, Steens Mountain to the northwest from the Alvord Desert File:Alvord Desert floor.jpg, Close-up of the surface, June 2018


References


External links


Alvord Desert
- Bureau of Land Management *
The Wilderness Society: Wilderness in Oregon’s High Desert

Alvord Desert Gliders
Video produced by Oregon Field Guide {{authority control Deserts of Oregon Great Basin deserts Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States Geography of Harney County, Oregon Bureau of Land Management areas in Oregon Protected areas of Harney County, Oregon