Topline
Death Valley National Park is projected to set a world record for the hottest temperature ever reliably recorded on this week, with forecasts in aptly-named Furnace Creek expected to reach 131 degrees, as a series of heat waves grip the South and Southwest, bringing dangerously hot conditions to over 100 million Americans.
Death Valley is projected to reach the 130s this week, and forecasters warn the excessive heat could … [+]
Key Facts
Forecasters with the National Weather Service believe Death Valley’s Furnace Creek will reach 131 degrees on Sunday, with a low temperature that night of 101 degrees.
The potential record comes amid a cross-country heat wave stretching from Florida to California, breaking nearly 900 daily temperature records in municipalities across the country since the start of June—Forbes has been tracking daily high temperature records this summer.
More than 113.2 million Americans were placed under excessive heat warnings and advisories on Thursday, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service—nearly 110 million people in the U.S. had been under heat advisories on Wednesday.
The NWS warns residents in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas—where excessive heat warnings are in place—should avoid strenuous activities outside, turn on air conditioning, hydrate and to not leave kids or pets in unattended vehicles, warning “dangerous” heat can lead to heat stroke or death.
The heat wave comes one week after a 65-year-old man was found dead in a parked vehicle at the national park in what appeared to be a case of heat stroke, the park announced, and after a father and his stepson were found dead in 119-degree heat while hiking at Big Bend National Park in Texas.
Surprising Fact
Death Valley—which sits nearly 300 feet below sea level in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert— is known as the hottest place on Earth and in 1913 set an all-time heat record of a blistering 134 degrees. Scientists, however, have come to doubt the accuracy of that temperature reading, one of multiple records in the early 1900s that has come under intense scrutiny. In 2013, the World Meteorological Organization decertified what had been the world’s all-time hottest temperature, a 90-year-old measurement of 136.4 degrees in Al Azizia, Libya, after an evaluation found the recording faulty. Christopher Burt, who worked on the WMO decertification team, called the 1913 Death Valley “100% bogus” and likely came from an inexperienced temperature observer.
Key Background
Scientists believe Death Valley set the world’s all-time heat record once again in 2020, before outdoing itself the following year, though temperature measurements in both cases fell just shy of the 1913 record. The first of two recent world records came in August 2020 at Furnace Creek, when the high temperature reached 129.9 degrees. The second was in July 2021, when the temperature inched up to an even 130 degrees, believed to be the hottest reliable measurement of all time.
What To Watch For
More temperature records. In Las Vegas, forecasters with the NWS predict the temperature on Saturday will reach a high of 114—tying a daily record—before climbing to 116 on Sunday and Monday, which would be new daily records.
Further Reading
Record-Breaking High Temperatures: Here’s Where The U.S. Has Hit New Highs For 2023, Including Miami, Tucson And Tampa (Forbes)
Nearly 110 Million Americans Under Extreme Heat Advisories—Here’s Where Temperature Records Could Fall (Forbes)
Tornadoes, Floods And Scorching Heat — Here’s All The Extreme Weather That Occurred Just In The Past Week (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/07/13/131-degrees-death-valley-projected-to-set-earths-modern-temperature-record/