Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week’s hottest temperature was 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) in Death Valley, California.

The official thermometer at California’s Death Valley measured an air temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit on August 16, which meteorologists say could be the hottest ever recorded on the planet. While a reading of 134 degrees was taken in Death Valley in 1913, recent studies suggest it was incorrect because of observer error. A 131-degree reading at Kebili, Tunisia, during July 1931 is now also suspected to be bogus. This summer’s mid-August heat also baked much of the western United States, triggering lightning storms that sparked a spate of destructive wildfires and blackouts across California.

The week’s coldest temperature was minus 106.0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 76.7 degrees Celsius) at the South Pole, Antarctica.

Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.

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