‘Highest temperature on Earth’ as Death Valley, US hits 54.4C

“This observed high temperature is considered preliminary and not yet official,” a statement from NWS Las Vegas said.

“If verified, this will be the hottest temperature officially verified since July of 1913, also at Death Valley.”

Some extreme weather watchers believe the most recent Death valley reading could, in time, be verified as the hottest ever reliably recorded on the planet.

Bob Henson, a meteorologist, told a blog of the American Geophysical Union: “It’s quite possible the Death Valley high set a new global heat record. The extreme nature of the surrounding weather pattern makes such a reading plausible, so the case deserves a solid review.”

“There are nagging questions about the validity of even hotter reports from Death Valley in 1913 and Tunisia in 1931. What we can say with high confidence is that, if confirmed, this is the highest temperature observed on Earth in almost a century.”

Looking ahead to later this week and next weekend, dangerous heat is forecast to remain locked in across the southwestern United States. Meanwhile, comfortable high temperatures in the 70s and 80s will be found from the Midwest to Northeast. Autumn is only 36 days away! pic.twitter.com/y0OYASQAsX

— NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) August 16, 2020

🥵Yep it was HOT out there today…

So hot in fact, that the PRELIMINARY high temperature @DeathValleyNPS was 130°F. If verified, this will be the hottest temperature officially verified since July of 1913. For more info…https://t.co/qFXcIVoPig#DeathValley #Climate #CAwx pic.twitter.com/lAl8NQDCyp

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) August 17, 2020

Per the climate data in xmACIS2, this is the first time since 1913 that Death Valley has reached 130F. In July 2013, it last reached 129F. If valid, it would be the hottest August temperature at the site by 3F. @NWSVegas pic.twitter.com/gZNBW4NXI4

— NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) August 16, 2020

Indeed, if Sunday’s temperature is found to be valid–and assuming Chris Burt’s exhaustive work is correct–then we have a new global heat record on our hands. We’ll have more to say about this at @CC_Yale on Monday. https://t.co/P58jNH6AMt

— Bob Henson (@bhensonweather) August 17, 2020

US Heat wave day 3#16 August : The Death Valley record of 130F-54.4C, which is the highest reliable temp. ever recorded in climatic history will be checked and confirmed by NOAA. Other records set today include an August monthly record Tmax at Stockton CA with 113F-45.0C. pic.twitter.com/Euof3yLAct

— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) August 17, 2020

Source: The Guardian