Published on : Tuesday, August 18, 2020
The Death Valley in Eastern California has recorded as the hottest temperature of the year. The mercury hit 129.9F (54.4C) in Death Valley, California on Sunday. It is a temperature that could be the hottest ever recorded on Earth.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said the temperature was recorded near Furnace Creek, close to the Nevada border, at around 3.41pm on Sunday. NWS Las Vegas said that this observed high temperature is considered preliminary and not yet official.
The reading will be further investigated by the National Center for Environmental Information and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The current record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was also logged in Death Valley, according to the WMO.
A temperature of 56.7C (134F) was recorded at Greenland Ranch on 10 July 1913. That recorded was installed after the WMO struck off the previous record of 58C recorded in Libya in September 1922.
The experts said the Libya reading was incorrect due to human error, the type of thermometer used and inconsistencies with other temperatures in the region.
But Christopher Burt, who prompted the investigation into the Libya reading, and who works for a private US meteorological service, has cast doubt on the 1913 Death Valley record.