The Saturday storm that brought copious amounts of rain to the Las Vegas Valley also created some chaos at Death Valley National Park.

On Monday, park officials said the storm “produced 0.6 inches of rain at Furnace Creek … more than a quarter of the annual rainfall for Death Valley.”

The park has steep, rocky terrain and water runs off quickly, creating fast-moving flows of mud, rock, and debris, park officials said in a statement. The subsequent floods cover roads and erode road shoulders, making travel hazardous.

Officials said North Highway and Badwater Road, damaged by late-summer flooding, had reopened for only two days before being closed again ny the weekend storm.

Roads closed due to storm damage

— Badwater Road, the entire road

— North Highway

— West Side Road

— Twenty Mule Team Canyon

— Charcoal Kilns Road

Officials said many important travel routes remain open, including Route 190, Route 178 (Trona Wildrose Road), Daylight Pass and Dantes View. Upper Wildrose and the Road to Cottonwood-Marble Canyons are in rough condition and require a 4-wheel drive. Unpaved roads may be impassable due to mud flows or erosion.

Recent floods

In August 2023, record-breaking rain and flooding caused the park to shut down. The Aug. 20 rainfall dumped an all-time daily high rain amount of 2.2 inches at Furnace Creek.

“We are the driest place in North America, and we got a year’s worth of rain in 24 hours,” Death Valley park ranger Matthew Lamar told journalists during a damage tour.

It was the second time in two years that record rain closed the 3.4-million-acre national park, which is about a 2½-hour drive from Las Vegas.

In August 2022, Tropical Storm Hilary’s rainfall broke the previous record of 1.7 inches. That rainfall also caused historic damage and stranded about 1,000 people — about 500 visitors and another 500 workers and staffers — inside the park.

Contact Mark Davis at mdavis@reviewjournal.com.