Alvord Desert

The Alvord Desert is a desert located in Harney County, in southeastern Oregon in the western United States. It is roughly southeast of the Steens Mountains. The Alvord Desert is a 12-by-7-mile dry lake bed and averages 7 inches of rain a year. Two mountain ranges separate it from the Pacific Ocean—the Coast Range, and the Cascade Mountains. Along with Steens Mountain, these topographical features create a rain shadow. The Alvord Desert lies at an elevation of approximately 4,000 feet .

During the dry season the surface is sufficiently flat for driving or landing small aircraft. Vehicle driving attempts to score land speed records are performed on the dry lake bed. The women's world land speed record was set in 1976 by Kitty O'Neil at 512 miles per hour , later surpassed in 2019 by Jessi Combs at 522.783 miles per hour .

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