FURNACE CREEK, Calif. — If you are feeling like the Valley’s hot, Death Valley would like a word.
The home of the hottest recorded temperature on Earth is forecast to reach 128 degrees on Sunday and Monday, with a 25 percent chance of hitting 130 degrees, according to the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas.
Even if that happens, the official record high temperature recorded more than 100 years ago will have nothing to sweat.
“The 134-degree temperature measured in Death Valley on July 10, 1913 stands as the record,” said Dan Berc, warning coordination meteorologist with National Weather Service. “
That record is a bit controversial. Some skeptics question how accurate a thermometer from 1913, the same year the crossword puzzle was invented, could have been.
“A lot of people don’t trust it, and I understand that,” Berc said.
In fact, Death Valley’s Furnace Creek was not recognized as the world’s hottest place until 2012, when the World Meteorological Organization disqualified Libya’s 136-degree reading recorded in 1922.
Investigators found several issues, including the “asphalt-like surface over which the measurement was taken, which is not a fair representation of the native desert soil,” according to Guinness World Records, which now recognizes Death Valley as the record heat holder.
Many consider 130 degrees, which was recorded in Death Valley in August 2020 and July 2021 to be the hottest temperature ever “reliably measured on Earth,” according to Scientific American.
“Until science proves us otherwise, 134 is the standing record,” Berc said.
Death Valley holds other records. It is the largest national park in the continental United States, and Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet below sea level.
These temperature and geographic extremes draw more than 1 million tourists each year. Many of them want to experience the broiling heat and get a photo next to the iconic thermometer display at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center, which now displays a dual Fahrenheit/Celsius display; over half of the park’s summertime visitors are international tourists, according to the park.
Signs warn them how not to become a Death Valley victim. Aside from drinking water and avoiding hikes in the heat, visitors should travel “prepared to survive” and not depend on cell phone service, or even a helicopter rescue.
It gets so hot in Death Valley, that helicopters can’t fly on some summer days.
“Helicopters cannot get enough lift to take off at extreme temperatures,” said Death Valley National Park ranger Elyscia Letterman. “The local air ambulance service determines if they can safely respond on a case-by-case basis, depending on temperature and the capabilities of each helicopter. However, they typically deem it unsafe to fly to Death Valley in temperatures above 120°F (49°C).”
“This kind of heat, we don’t mess around with it,” Berc said. This kind of heat kills people.”
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