Hottest Temperature On Earth Might Have Been Set Sunday In Death Valley

That huge heat wave is grinding on in the western third of the nation, and that might have led to a world record Sunday.  

A couple enjoying the nice 130 degree 
temperatures in Furnace Creek, Death
Valley, California Sunday

It got up to 130 degrees in an aptly named place called Furnace Creek on Sunday.  If verified, it would probably break  the record for the hottest reliably recorded temperature on Earth.

I say "probably" because there are disputes to many so called record hottest temperature readings. 

There's other reports in the past of higher temperatures on the planet than the 130 degrees on Sunday, but most if not all of those have been debunked, or at least seriously question. Researcher Christopher Burt took us through these dubious records a few years ago in a Weather Underground column.  Some of his conclusions follow: 

You might remember from old encyclopedias and what not that the hottest temperature recorded on Earth was 136.4 degrees in Al Azizia, Libya, September 12, 1922.  However, the World Meteorological Organization invalidated that record a few years back because there were problems with instruments, how the thermometer was sited, and other procedural problems. 

 A 134 degree reading in Algeria was also dismissed as being climatologically impossible. 

Yet another 134 degree reported reading in Death Valley, California is unlikely to be real. During heat waves in that part of the country, nearby stations report temperatures that are just about as hot.  But in 1913, the second warmest spot in the region was "only" 118 degrees. There were problems with the siting of this thermometer as well. 

Burt, in his 2016 analysis concluded that the actual hottest temperature on record was a tie.  That reading was 129.2 degrees in Mitribah, Kuwait on July 21, 2016 and also at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California on June 30, 2013 and at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley on July 20, 1960,

Burt bases this conclusion on the fact these readings were measured in pretty precise ways under accepted scientific guidelines.

That leads us to Sunday to the reported 130 degree reading in Furnace Creek, California. Scientists will look at the measurements and if they were taken properly to determine this was a real world record for hottest temperature. 

If you want cooler thoughts, note that the forecast high today here in Vermont, at Burlington is just 79 degrees.

There have been other hot spots going on in recent days. Japan on Sunday tied its national record for hottest temperature with a reading of 106 degrees.   Stockton, California had its all-time August maximum at 113 degrees. Phoenix, Arizona tied its August record with 117 degree last week. And they've had 38 days this year with temperatures at or above 110 degrees, the most on record. 

Way up toward the Arctic, St Paul Island in the Bering Sea just tied its all time record high of 66 degrees. Not that warm, true, but awfully toasty by their standards.