Death Valley soars to 130 degrees, potentially Earth’s highest temperature since at least 1931
If confirmed, it would be the highest temperature recorded on the planet since at least 1931.
In the midst of a historic heat wave in the West, the mercury in Death Valley, California surged to a searing 130 degrees on Sunday afternoon, possibly setting a world record for the highest temperature ever observed during the month of August.
If the temperature is valid, it would also rank among the top three highest temperatures ever reliably measured on the planet at any time and may, in fact, be the highest.
The temperature in Death Valley hit 130 degrees at 3:41 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. If verified, the reading would break Death Valley’s previous August record by three degrees, the Weather Service tweeted.
“Everything I’ve seen so far indicates that is a legitimate observation,” said Randy Cerveny, who leads the World Meteorological Organization’s weather and climate extremes team, via email. “I am recommending that the World Meteorological Organization preliminarily accept the observation. In the upcoming weeks, we will, of course, be examining it in detail, along with the U.S. National Climate Extremes Committee, using one of our international evaluation teams.”Death Valley famously holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, which is 134 degrees. This record was set on July 10, 1913. However, that measurement is very much in question; an extensive analysis of that record conducted in 2016 by Christopher Burt, an expert on extreme weather data, concluded it was “essentially not possible from a meteorological perspective.”Some climatologists consider 129-degree readings recorded in Death Valley on June 30, 2013, and in Kuwait and Pakistan in 2016 and 2017, as the highest ever reliably measured on the planet. If only those readings are considered, then Sunday’s 130-degree temperature would unseat them as the highest measured.
As it stands, if Sunday’s 130-degree reading is confirmed, it would be the world’s highest temperature officially recorded since 1931, and the third-hottest since 1873. The only two hotter measurements include the disputed 1913 Death Valley reading and a 131-degree reading from Kebili, Tunisia, set July 7, 1931, which is considered to be Africa’s hottest temperature. But the Tunisia mark also has “serious credibility issues,” according to Burt.
Death Valley is the lowest, driest and hottest location in the United States. Furnace Creek, where its temperature is measured, sits at 190 feet below sea level in the Mojave Desert of southeast California. It is notorious for its blistering heat. In July 2018, its average temperature of 108.1 degrees represented the hottest month ever measured on the planet. During that month, it hit at least 120 degrees on 21 days.
From 2018: Death Valley posts hottest month ever recorded on Earth, for the second July in a row
Typically, such blazing heat records fall during July, which is the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest month, which makes Sunday’s 130-degree reading stand out.
The scorching temperature occurred amid a suffocating heat wave which has gripped the western U.S. since late last week, and is forecast to continue into the coming week.
On Friday, Oakland hit 100 for the first time on record in August while Phoenix tied its hottest temperature for the month: 117 degrees.
Then on Saturday, Needles, in California’s southeast desert, soared to 123 degrees, its highest August temperature on record.
Sacramento rocketed to 112 degrees Sunday, topping its previous August record of 110. |
