California’s Death Valley becomes scorching hot as raging heat wave continues

Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth for many years, issued a searing exclamation mark on Sunday as it hit its hottest temperatures ever in a record-warm summer, burning nearly the entire globe. a meteorologist said.

Temperatures on Sunday hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.33 degrees Celsius) at the aptly named Furnace Creek in Death Valley, which runs along part of central California’s border with Nevada, according to the National Weather Service. bottom.

The highest temperature ever recorded was 134°F (56.67°C) at Furnace Creek in July 1913, according to Randy Severney of the World Meteorological Organization, the recognized keeper of world records. Temperatures above 130 F (54.44 C) have been recorded only a few times on Earth, mostly in Death Valley.

“Global warming makes such temperatures more likely to occur,” said Severny, records coordinator for the World Meteorological Organization, in an email. “Long-term: Global warming is increasing the rise and frequency of temperature extremes. Short-term: This particular weekend is being driven by a very, very strong high-pressure upper level over the western United States.”

In Death Valley on Sunday, meteorologists tracked high clouds in the area that could keep temperatures down.

“Today’s all-time record seems pretty safe,” said Matt Woods, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Las Vegas office, which monitors Death Valley.

Heatwaves are just one part of the extreme weather that will hit the United States over the weekend. Torrential rains in Pennsylvania caused sudden flash floods on Saturday, washing away several cars and killing five people. A 9-month-old boy and a 2-year-old girl are missing. Officials feared landslides in Vermont after several days of flooding followed by rain.

Death Valley’s extreme temperatures are occurring in the midst of a heatwave, with about one-third of Americans receiving some form of heat advisory, alert, or warning. Heatwaves aren’t as visually dramatic as other natural disasters, but experts say they’re more lethal. More than a dozen people died last month in heatwaves across the South and parts of the Midwest.

Residents of the western United States have long been accustomed to extreme temperatures, and the heat seems to have caused minimal disruption in California over the weekend. Local governments have opened cooling centers to keep people cool without access to air conditioning. The heat forced officials to cancel the opening weekend of the California State Fair’s horse races, and officials kept fair-goers hydrated and held in one of seven air-conditioned buildings. urged to appeal.

Temperatures hit 115 degrees Celsius (46.11 degrees Celsius) early Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, approaching the desert city’s all-time record of 117 degrees Celsius. Temperatures in Phoenix hit 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) early Sunday afternoon, marking the 17th straight day above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. This record is 18 days set in June 1974. National Weather Service meteorologist Gabriel Rogerro said Phoenix is ​​on track to break that record on Tuesday.

Heat records are being broken across the southern United States, from California to Florida. But that’s not all. It has spread across the globe, with devastating heat hitting Europe and dramatic flooding in the northeastern United States, India, Japan and China.

The world was in hot, uncharted territory for most of July, according to the University of Maine Climate Reanalyzer.

June was also the hottest June on record, according to several meteorological agencies. Scientists say 2023 could well be the hottest year on record, with measurements dating back to the mid-19th century.

Death Valley dominates the global heat record. Not only is it hot in the valley, but brutal warmth persists.

Some meteorologists dispute how accurate Death Valley’s 110-year high temperature record is, and climate historian Christopher Bart disputes the record for a number of reasons. explained in a blog post a few years ago.

The two hottest temperatures on record are 134°F in Death Valley in 1913 and 131°F (55°C) in Tunisia in July 1931. Weather historian Bert of The Weather Company points out that both of these measurements are erroneous, citing 130°F. July 2021 recorded the hottest temperature on Earth (54.4 degrees) recorded in Death Valley.

“130 degrees is very unusual, if not unique,” Bart said.

Death Valley hit 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) in July 2021 and August 2020, both of which are still awaiting confirmation. NOAA’s head of climate analysis Russ Vose said the scientists hadn’t found any problems so far, but the analysis wasn’t finished yet.

Bert said there are other places that are just as hot, like Iran’s Rut Desert, similar to Death Valley, but like Death Valley it’s uninhabited so no one is measuring there. The difference, he said, was that someone decided in 1911 to set up an official weather station in Death Valley.

The combination of long-term anthropogenic climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas has made the world hotter by decades, with ups and downs from year to year. Many of these ups and downs are caused by natural El Niño and La Niña cycles. An El Niño event, a warming part of the Pacific Ocean that changes the world’s weather, adds more heat to the already rising temperatures.

Scientists such as Bose believe that most of the record warming we’re seeing on Earth today is due to man-made climate change, in part because this El Niño event started only a few months ago and is still in the It is described as being weak to moderate. Scientists predict next year will be even hotter than this year, as it is not expected to peak until winter.

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Mr. Borenstein reported from Washington and Mr. Beam reported from Sacramento, California.

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