What is the highest temp in US history and in the previous years?

When summer rolls around, the mercury in thermometers across the United States climbs. Typically, record temperatures are set between July and August, but some heatwaves have produced historic readings above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in June and September.

Every state in the Union has seen temps in the triple digits at one time or another. Generally, though, you’ll find the highest temperatures recorded in the Southwest. But one place nestled in Death Valley, California has dominated the list of hottest recorded temperatures in the world.

The highest temperature ever recorded was in the US

The world’s official record hottest temperature ever is currently 134 degrees Fahrenheit taken in Death Valley on 10 July 1913. Prior to 2013 the record was held by Al Azizia, Libya, with a reading of 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit in 1923. However, the World Meteorological Organization decertified that record after a committee was assembled and investigated the matter.

One of the members of the team, Christopher Burt, said the 1913 Death Valley record should be decertified too. “The old Death Valley record from July 1913 is 100% bogus (not just 99.9% such),” he said. However, the record for the hottest ever measured temperature would still reside at the nearly inhospitable stretch of land in California. Seven out of Earth’s top-ten list of hottest reliably measured temperatures were taken at Furnace Creek in Death Valley.

Temperatures are rising globally but most records set in the 1930s

The past eight years have been among the ten hottest years on record according to six leading international temperature datasets consolidated by the World Meteorological Organization. However, that doesn’t mean that those higher temperatures are spread out evenly around the globe. Heatwaves are influenced by a number of factors and aren’t completely understood.

Many of the record highs set in the United States date back to the 1930s when the Plains were scorched under extreme temperatures and an extended drought. Combined with deterioration of the soil from extensive and destructive farming, the plants withered and the area turned into what would become known as the Dust Bowl.

However, changing climate produced usual extreme heat events in 2021, roasting the Northwest. Temperatures in Oregon and Washington were at or near 120 degrees. The next ten years are likely to be even warmer than the previous ones according to NOAA.

Here’s a look at the record temperatures in each state according to NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee.