Death Valley

On 10 July 1913 a thermometer at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, read 56.7 °C (134 °F). The World Meteorological Organization still recognises it as the hottest air temperature on record.

Some climate historians have questioned the 1913 reading, but no review has overturned it.

Context

The reading of 134 degrees Fahrenheit was taken on 10 July 1913 at Greenland Ranch, now called Furnace Creek, in Death Valley, California. It came during a severe heat wave that produced several days above 125 degrees Fahrenheit. The valley is a deep basin below sea level surrounded by mountains, which traps heat and dries the air.

In 2012 the World Meteorological Organization set up an evaluation committee to examine the claim, and it reviewed the observer, the instrument and weather maps from the period. The committee had concerns about the 1913 observer and the measurement conditions, but it concluded the reading could not be formally rejected, and the record was kept. Some researchers still believe it may be too high.

The record matters because the older claim of 58 degrees Celsius at El Azizia, Libya, in 1922 was rejected by the WMO in 2012 after a review found errors. Death Valley has seen readings close to the record in the 21st century, including about 54.4 degrees Celsius in 2020 and 2021, which are accepted as the highest reliably measured in modern times.