Death Valley sets record for hottest month ever recorded on Earth – “It eclipsed the record by quite a bit”

Desdemona Despair

By Josh Gabbatiss
2 August 2018

(The Independent) – California’s Death Valley has smashed its own record for the hottest month ever recorded anywhere.

Preliminary results suggest the month’s average temperature was 108.1F (42.28C).

This edges out the previous record, set in the valley at the same time last year, when the average was 107.4F (41.89C).

“It eclipsed the record by quite a bit,” said Todd Lericos, a meteorologist who leads the Las Vegas National Weather Service, noting the new average will need to be reviewed before entering official record books.

The temperatures are measured at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, a desert in south eastern California that includes Badwater Basin – the lowest point in North America.

The location also holds the world record for highest temperature ever recorded – 134F (56.67C) – set on 10 July 1913.  […]

Among the extreme conditions were four consecutive days reaching a high of 127F (52.7C) and overnight lows that remained over the century mark.

The records came as heatwaves scorched large areas of the planet, with deadly temperatures and wildfires striking the US from California to New York in July.

Record temperatures were recorded across much of the northern hemisphere, with the heat above the Arctic Circle described as “unprecedented”. [more]

Death Valley sets record for hottest month ever recorded on Earth