Planning on going to the Nat in N Mex, next month. I have to go thought Needles, and was planning on spending the night there. Is the weather now, a lot hotter than normal, or should I expect this? I'm, driving a Dura Max full of parts and car and trailer. Should I change my plans, and try to make it thought there real early in the day? Also how far past Needles do you have to go till it gets cooler?

 

Needles, California is routinely one of the hottest locations in the lower 48. You don't have to live there to know this. As of this writing, the southwest is having a heat wave, and the temperature there is in the 120s. But even when it's normal, the temperature at this time of year is routinely well into the triple digits with overnight lows around 90. If you're concerned about driving through such hot weather, I would schedule it such that you're driving through there at night, not in the middle of the day.

As far as how far you have to go before it gets cooler, I'm tempted to say the Atlantic Ocean, but it's isn't quite that bad. The next city along I-40 of any consequence is Kingman, Arizona, where the temperatures are likely to be in the 90 to 100 range. The first real relief is likely to be as you approach Flagstaff, Arizona, which is at a higher elevation (around 7000 feet) and where the daytime temperatures at this time of year are more likely to be in the 80s.


The southwest is enduring a heat wave right now, but it is supposed to pass by the end of the week. Don't assume that the temperatures you're seeing now in these cities and along that route are normal and are what you will see when you drive that route a month from now. With any luck, temps will be back to more normal levels by then. It will still be hot because it always is in those areas in the summer. But hopefully it won't be sizzling like it is now.

 

I have never lived in Needles, but my '56 spent time there from 76 to 92.

When I took off the door panels, they were all full of red/orange powder-like dust. Cup loads.

Jaunty- is that stuff typical for the Needles area?

 

It's typical for the southwest. It's a desert. When the wind blows, the dust flies, and it gets into everything. Having lived in New Mexico for five years now, I've found that I have to change the air filters on my cars about twice as often as I had to when I lived in the northeast.

If that car you're talking about was parked outside for those 16 years, it could easily have gotten dust into every nook and cranny, and quite a bit of it, too.

 

Needles is not a place I'd want to stay overnight. Bypass it. If you need fuel east of Barstow, CA wait until Arizona. First fuel stop in AZ is the cutoff to Lake Havasu City, route 95 (not the route 95 out of Needles), about 6 miles East of the Colorado River.

As others said, get to higher elevation further east in AZ to escape some of the heat.

 

The only thing about staying in a place that is as hot as the hubs of hell most of the summer is that businesses are geared for it. I would bet that there isn't a retail place any where around Needles that doesn't have good AC.... Tedd