Furnace Creek in Death Valley is actually decently shaded by some of the most prominent mountains in North America. I wonder if the air temperature would be higher if the sun hit the area earlier.
Sunrise is 5:39am, but it's actually in mountain shade until 6:14am. Sunset is 8:07pm, but it's actually already in mountain shade at 7:43pm. The mountains cut out a good hour of direct sunlight.
Shade, even sunlight, isn't what makes death valley so hot. It is the valley part. Adiabatic cooling/heating as the air moves up and down the mountains is what makes the valley floor so hot. Take away those mountains and you loose that heat engine.
"The confluence of several topographical and geographic factors have resulted in some of Earth’s highest air temperatures. Solar heating of the desert floor, the movement of warm air from adjacent areas (known as advection), adiabatic heating as air descends the ranges west of Death Valley, and the trapping of air in the valley all contribute to scorching temperatures. "
Makes sense. I checked out Turbat, Pakistan and Kebili, Tunisia (noted for record temps) and at first glance their topography is less of a valley so some other mechanisms must be dominant there.
I'm not sure that shade map is so accurate. I looked at my house and it wasn't even close. Also, it completely changed based on zoom level. If you zoom in it will show tall buildings shading all day, but I assure you that the tall buildings nearby do not provide any shade to my property.
It's a bit tricky with high zoom levels because there might be a mountain 5 miles away that's casting shade on your block but at high zoom levels, features far away tend to be ignored for performance reasons.
I've been using the map for mountaineering and in my experience it's quite accurate +/-2 to 3 minutes.
Do you live in the extreme north or south? Maybe the elevation data for your region is not accurate. The buildings are not quite fleshed out yet. Here's another project that might provide better results: https://app.shadowmap.org
I live in Cupertino, right between the two Apple campuses. The problem for me is too much shadow. For example, it says that the Apple campuses keep my house in shadow for much of the day, which I can assure you is not accurate. Other tall buildings cause the same problem.
It probably works a lot better in nature where all of the sources of shadow are natural mountains.
Having lived very near Death Valley, and been in Death Valley hundreds of times, especially in the summer, I can tell you the shade makes zero difference. Remember that it's almost entirely rocks, pebbles, and sand so the heat is stored from one day to the next. It doesn't get very much of an overnight reset like in temperate climates.
The hottest I ever experienced there was 124° on the big sign by the general store. The temperature sensor in my car said it was hotter, but I was mostly amazed that a Fiat and its tiny air conditioner was able to cope with 120's for a week.
Sunrise is 5:39am, but it's actually in mountain shade until 6:14am. Sunset is 8:07pm, but it's actually already in mountain shade at 7:43pm. The mountains cut out a good hour of direct sunlight.
Here's an interactive map if you're interested: https://shademap.app/#36.4344,-116.85894,12z,1625922915384t