Editing Manzanar (section)

=== Climate and location ===
[[File:Barrack Row.jpg|thumb|right|Barrack row looking west to the desert and mountains beyond (July 2, 1942)]]
The Manzanar facility was located between [[Lone Pine, California|Lone Pine]] and [[Independence, California|Independence]].<ref name="hansen 52"/> The weather at Manzanar caused suffering for the inmates, few of whom were accustomed to the extremes of the area's climate.<ref name="nps manzanar camp life"/> While the majority of people were from the Los Angeles area, some were from places with much different climates (such as [[Bainbridge Island]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]]).<ref name="heitz 2019">Heitz (2019).</ref> The temporary buildings were inadequate to shield people from the weather. The Owens Valley lies at an elevation of about {{convert|4000|ft|m}}.<ref name="ManzanarWeather">{{cite web | title=Manzanar National Historic Site – Weather (U.S. National Park Service) | publisher=National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior | url=http://www.nps.gov/manz/planyourvisit/weather.htm | date=July 26, 2006 | access-date=August 4, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109065434/http://www.nps.gov/manz/planyourvisit/weather.htm | archive-date=November 9, 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Summers on the desert floor of the Owens Valley are generally hot, with temperatures often exceeding {{convert|100|°F|°C}}.<ref name="nps manzanar camp life"/><ref name="ManzanarWeather" /> Winters bring occasional snowfall and daytime temperatures that often drop into the {{convert|40|°F|°C}} range.<ref name="ManzanarWeather" /> At night, temperatures are generally {{convert|30|to|40|F|C}} lower than the daytime highs, and high winds are common day or night.<ref name="CAE162" /><ref name="ManzanarWeather" />

The area's mean annual precipitation is barely {{convert|5|in|cm|spell=in}}. The ever-present dust was a continual problem due to the frequent high winds; so much so that people usually woke up in the morning covered from head to toe with a fine layer of dust, and they constantly had to sweep dirt out of the barracks.<ref name="nps manzanar camp life"/><ref name="Reflections8">Embrey (1998), p. 8.</ref>

"In the summer, the heat was unbearable," said former Manzanar inmate [[Ralph Lazo]]. "In the winter, the sparsely rationed oil didn't adequately heat the tar paper-covered pine barracks with knotholes in the floor. The wind would blow so hard, it would toss rocks around."<ref name="latimes 20070527">{{cite news | last=Rasmussen | first=Cecilia | title=Following His Beliefs Led Him To Manzanar | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=May 27, 2007 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-27-me-then27-story.html | access-date=September 16, 2008 | page=B2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323033715/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/27/local/me-then27 | archive-date=March 23, 2009 | url-status=live }}</ref>