A temperature of 54.4C – as 129.9F – was recorded in Death Valley, California, in what some extreme observers think may be the worst reading ever recorded reliably on the planet.
The U.S. National Water Service’s automated weather station at Furnace Creek near the Nevada border hit the extreme height on Sunday at 3:41 p.m., a statement said.
NWS Las Vegas
(@NWSVegas)AYes, it was HOT out today …
So hot in fact, that the PRELIMINARY high temperature @DeathValleyNPS was 130 ° F. If checked, this will be the warmest temperature officially checked since July of 1913. For more info … https: //t.co/qFXcIVoPig#Deadefallei #Climate #CAwx pic.twitter.com/lAl8NQDCyp
“This observed high temperature is considered preliminary and not yet official,” a statement from NWS Las Vegas said.
“If controlled, this will be the hottest temperature officially controlled since July 1913, including at Death Valley.”
NWS WPC
(@NWSWPC)Per climate data in xmACIS2, this is the first time since 1913 that Death Valley has reached 130F. In July 2013, it finally reached 129F. If valid, it would be the warmest August temperature on the side by 3F. @NWSVegas pic.twitter.com/gZNBW4NXI4
If the temperature reading is checked, it would hit the previous warmest August day for the United States.
The all-time high of Death Valley is, according to the World Meteorological Organization, 134F (56.7 ° C) taken on July 10, 1913 at Greenland Ranch. That reading, according to the WMO, still stands as the hottest on the planet’s surface.
The Death Valley 1913 reading was installed as the hottest on the planet, after a WMO study in 2013 released a 58C temperature that was killed in September 1922 in Libya.
A commission concluded that Libya’s reading was probably wrong with human error, the type of thermometer used and inconsistencies with other temperatures in the region which all contributed to that temperature being beaten.
But Christopher Burt, of private U.S. meteorological services and who encouraged the study of the Libyan record, also challenged the legitimacy of the Death Valley lectures of 1913, saying that they were “essentially impossible from a meteorological perspective. . “
Speaking to the Washington Post, Arizona State University professor Randy Cerveny, who leads a WMO group that maintains an archive of climate extremes, said of the new Death Valley temperature reading: “Everything I do have seen so far, indicates that it is a legitimate observation. “
He told the WMO to recommend “accepting the observation in advance”, but that the lecture would be examined in detail in the coming weeks.
The only other WMO-controlled temperature record higher than that taken in Death Valley is from July 1931 at Kebili in Tunisia, where a reading of 131F (55C) was taken.
But like many older temperature readings, this is also challenging.
Some extreme observers believe that the latest Death Valley reading – at the time – could be verified as the worst ever reliably recorded on the planet.
Bob Henson
(@bhensonweather)Indeed, if Sunday’s temperature is found valid – and assuming Chris Burt’s exhausting work is correct – then we have a new world record on our hands. We will be able to say more about this @CC_Yale on Monday. https://t.co/P58jNH6AMt
Bob Henson, a meteorologist, told an American Geophysical Union blog: ‘It is quite possible that Death Valley will set a new global hot record. The extreme nature of the surrounding weather pattern makes such a reading plausible, so the case deserves a solid review.
“There are sharp questions about the validity of even more violent reports from Death Valley in 1913 and Tunisia in 1931. What we can say with great confidence is that, if confirmed, this is the highest temperature on earth in almost a century has been observed. “
Extreme temperatures around the world
(@extremetemps)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 verified and confirmed by NOAA. Other records set today include a monthly Tmax in August at Stockton CA with 113F-45.0C. pic.twitter.com/Euof3yLAct
Prof James Renwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington, has joined WMO efforts to monitor temperature readings.
He said reading Death Valley would have to be checked and verified before any record could be explained with confidence. Checks would be made of the instruments to ensure there had been no alterations to the Death Valley site, which is located near a visitor center at Furnace Creek.
He said: “There will be a lot of checking to make sure that value is correct.”
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