NatureTemperature (°C)
Highest temperature recorded on Earth
54.4 °C
129.9 °F
- Record holder
- Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California, United States
✓ Value cross-checked in a second source
The official record recognised by the World Meteorological Organization is 56.7 °C (Furnace Creek, 10 July 1913), but many climatologists dispute that reading. The 54.4 °C measured at the same place on 16 August 2020 and 9 July 2021 is the highest temperature considered reliable.
What to remember
At 58 m below sea level, deep in Death Valley, Furnace Creek recorded 54.4 °C, the highest temperature measured on Earth. It reached that value twice, on 16 August 2020 and again on 9 July 2021.
The settlement, formerly called Greenland Ranch, is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California. It is home to the visitor centre, museum and headquarters of Death Valley National Park, and its population grew from 24 at the 2010 census to 136 in 2020.
The record only uses officially observed surface values, taken under set conditions so that stations around the world can be compared. Satellite readings are left out, since they are not considered official. Hotter spells may have occurred before modern instruments existed, or in remote areas without an official weather station.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of weather records” (revision used 1377663895). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: Tobias1983, Photo licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
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