Furnace Creek in California’s Death Valley recorded a temperature of 130 degrees on Sunday, which may be the highest recorded temperature on Earth, according to the National Weather Service.
- The temperature is the first time since 1913 that Death Valley has hit that temperature.
What happened:
On Sunday at 3:41 p.m., Death Valley hit its highest temperature as a heat wave sprawls throughout the West.
- If the temperature is verified, it would be a record-breaking event for Death Valley, breaking the previous August record by three degrees, according to The Washington Post.
- The temperature would be the top three highest temperatures at any time on Earth. It could even be the highest.
“Everything I’ve seen so far indicates that is a legitimate observation.” — Randy Cerveny, who heads World Meteorological Organization’s weather and climate extremes team, to The Washington Post.
A little confusion on the numbers
Weather Underground historian Christopher Burt wrote an analysis of highest temperatures back in 2016, explaining how the 1913 numbers may have been off because Death Valley was 18 degrees above normal, where as the nearby areas were only 8 degrees above normal.
- Similarly, Africa reported high temperatures of 131 degrees. But Burt and other experts say there may be some credibility issues with those numbers, according to CBS News.
- The highest temperature recorded on Earth, then, would be the 129.2 degrees recorded in 2013 in Death Valley.