100 Years Ago Today...

[Cyclenall]

100 years ago today, the hottest temperature ever recorded on earth occurred at Death Valley CA around 4:00 pm local time. I wish I was there at the time . It was on the front of Wunderground's main page and the NWS has a special page up for it as well:

Join the Celebration:

On July 10th, 1913 the weather observer at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California recorded a high temperature of 134°F (56.7°C). This is the highest reliably recorded air temperature on Earth. Please join us at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the world record high temperature. By attending you will:

•Experience the conditions that make Death Valley the hottest place on Earth.
•Be there as the official temperature observation is made.
•Learn about Weather and Climate Extremes (WMO Extremes Archive)
•Learn about how another claim to the world's hottest temperature title was invalidated after 90 years.
•Learn about protecting yourself from extreme heat from people who live there.

Guest Speakers:

•Christopher Burt - Weather Underground
•Dr. Randall Cerveny - Ariz. State University/World Meteorological Organization
•Chris Stachelski - NOAA's National Weather Service - Las Vegas, NV
•Dan Berc - NOAA's National Weather Service - Las Vegas, NV
•TBD - Death Valley National Park

Agenda:

12:00 - 12:20 What Makes Death Valley the Hottest Place on Earth? - Dan Berc, NWS
12:20 - 12:45 History of the Death Valley Weather Station - Chris Stachelski, NWS
12:45 - 1:30 What is it Like to Live in the Hottest Place on Earth? - NPS
1:30 - 1:50 Break
1:50 - 2:35 Overturning the Libya Record - Christopher Burt, Weather Underground
2:35 - 3:20 World's hottest recorded temperature? Who's to blame? - Dr. Randall Cerveny, WMO/ASU
3:20 - 3:45 What Made July 10, 1913 So Hot? - Chris Stachelski, NWS
3:45 Head outside for 4:00 temperature observation.

Contact Information: Dan Berc Cheryl Chipman
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Public Information Officer
National Weather Service Death Valley National Park
Las Vegas, NV Furnace Creek, CA
daniel.berc@noaa.gov cheryl_chipman@nps.gov
(702) 263-9744 x223 (760) 786-3207

Link: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/vef/deathvalley/

That commemorate event, would be nice to go to that too. Some may not know this, but the 136ºF record at El Azizia, Libya on September 13, 1922 was invalided by the WMO on September 12, 2012. I didn't know this until a few weeks ago. The World Meteorological Organization officially re-certified the 134ºF reading at Death Valley as the all-time highest air temperature recorded on the planet...go NA!

[brunota2003]

I read the article in BAMS about the Libya decision. If I remember right, they believed that a soldier, who was not properly trained, took over the observations...and the main thermometer broke. The replacement one they used, combined with inexperience in reading that particular thermometer (and the thermometer being inaccurate to begin with), led to temperatures being recorded that were way too high.

[Scott Patterson]

Along with the 136F Lybia reading, the 134F Death Valley is also known to be erroneous. Why it's still touted as the official record is a mystery.

[Cyclenall]

Along with the 136F Lybia reading, the 134F Death Valley is also known to be erroneous. Why it's still touted as the official record is a mystery.

Why do you think its erroneous? I read on that NWS page (or something similar) as to why the Death Valley one was not suspect to be junk.

[Scott Patterson]

Why do you think its erroneous?

Actually, it has been thought to be erroneous for quite a while now. This is actually for several reasons.

#1 the weather station was having problems at the time.

#2 it was taken by a borax mine worker, not a trained data collector

#3 it was recorded in a sandstorm

#4 None of other nearby stations recieve any unusually high temperature readings during that time period. It seems extremely unlikely that this one weather station was breaking world records while all the nearby ones weren't experiencing extremes.

To sum it up:

Weather station that was having problems + untrained data collector + sandstorm + doesn't match what other nearby weather stations were experiencing = extremely probable that it was an erroneous reading.

In fact, Chirstopher Burt, one of the guest speakers in your post above is just one of the many who have looked closely at data and say that it erroneous. He's the same one that proved the Libya reading to be inaccurate which caused the reading to be thrown out by the WMO. It will be interesting to hear what he says in his speech since he is one of the speakers.

The Death Valley reading is not the only erroneous record, the 100F recorded in Pahala Hawaii is another erroneous temperature reading that is still often quoted in the weather books. So is the supposed 118F recorded near Denver in 1888 that is often quoted.

In fact, none of the 130F+ temperatures in the world, recorded at any time period are non-conrtoversial since few were taken by modern standards. The 131F recorded by a ranger in Death Valley in 1994 is thought to be accurate, but since it wasn't with an official instument didn't make the official record. The highest temperature recorded in Death Valley that is thought to be reliable is actually 129.2. Accurate readings close to this were also reached in 1960 and 1998.

[Cyclenall]

Why do you think its erroneous?

Actually, it has been thought to be erroneous for quite a while now. This is actually for several reasons.

#1 the weather station was having problems at the time.

#2 it was taken by a borax mine worker, not a trained data collector

#3 it was recorded in a sandstorm

#4 None of other nearby stations recieve any unusually high temperature readings during that time period. It seems extremely unlikely that this one weather station was breaking world records while all the nearby ones weren't experiencing extremes.

To sum it up:

Weather station that was having problems + untrained data collector + sandstorm + doesn't match what other nearby weather stations were experiencing = extremely probable that it was an erroneous reading.

In fact, Chirstopher Burt, one of the guest speakers in your post above is just one of the many who have looked closely at data and say that it erroneous. He's the same one that proved the Libya reading to be inaccurate which caused the reading to be thrown out by the WMO. It will be interesting to hear what he says in his speech since he is one of the speakers.

The Death Valley reading is not the only erroneous record, the 100F recorded in Pahala Hawaii is another erroneous temperature reading that is still often quoted in the weather books. So is the supposed 118F recorded near Denver in 1888 that is often quoted.

In fact, none of the 130F+ temperatures in the world, recorded at any time period are non-conrtoversial since few were taken by modern standards. The 131F recorded by a ranger in Death Valley in 1994 is thought to be accurate, but since it wasn't with an official instument didn't make the official record. The highest temperature recorded in Death Valley that is thought to be reliable is actually 129.2. Accurate readings close to this were also reached in 1960 and 1998.

That's all news to me, not sure why the WMO went ahead and said this Death Valley record is "clean" when almost all the problems with the Libyan one (136ºF) were also present! Doesn't add up to me. What is a Borax mine worker doing in Death Valley? Mines there? With no AC back then, you couldn't pay them enough to suffer over there . For #4, on the NWS page it was said there was a 5-day streak of incredibly hot weather so it was during a heatwave, don't know about surrounding stations.

Chirstopher Burt claims its an error? That's very strange if he was a speaker at that event, why go to it and promote something you think was an error all along? He goes there and says, "Hello everyone, I'm Burt and I think this date we're celebrating all right now in Death Valley is false...that is all" *walks back into crowd* . Also there is going to be a video/transcript of his speech from that?

I was going to ask if all these records are false which one can be trusted...129.2ºF in Death Valley...

[Scott Patterson]

That's all news to me, not sure why the WMO went ahead and said this Death Valley record is "clean" when almost all the problems with the Libyan one (136ºF) were also present!

Before people went through the data carefully, WMO also accepted the Libyan one as authentic. As soon as that one was proven false, they just published the next highest one. The Death Valley reading has been controversial for a long time.

What is a Borax mine worker doing in Death Valley?

Mining borax.

http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/m ... valley.htm

For #4, on the NWS page it was said there was a 5-day streak of incredibly hot weather.

All from readings taken by a single individual and not being experienced on the rest of the region.

Chirstopher Burt claims its an error?

Yes. His synopsis of many records, both cold and hot is always interesting. Here is his blog:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weathe ... /show.html

That's very strange if he was a speaker at that event, why go to it and promote something you think was an error all along?

Christopher Burt never promoted the Death Valley reading. I know before the speech he had said on his blog that he was worried about the reaction during his speech.

I believe he was invited as a guest speaker to the event above because he was one of the ones who got the Libya reading nullified.

Christopher Burt on the Al Aziziyah reading:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weathe ... ntrynum=89

It would be interesting to hear what his speech said about Death Valley. So far his blog hasn't said anything about how the speech went.

Also there is going to be a video/transcript of his speech from that?

Here's what his blog (which I have followed for a long time because I like his corrections to various weather readings) says:

Asked by DonnieBwkG:

Dr. Burt will your talk at Death Valley on July 10th be available on line in real time or on a video later?

Burt:

I hope not since some may not be happy about my view of the valididty of the 134° reading. Also, I am not a 'Doc' but thanks for the consideration and your comment!

You can read more by following the comments on his blog entry:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weathe ... commenttop

[Scott Patterson]

PS, here's a news story on Burt's view on the record, though it doesn't go into near as much detail as his blog:

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jul/15/do ... at-record/

[Cyclenall]

Thanks for the info.

Christopher Burt never promoted the Death Valley reading. I know before the speech he had said on his blog that he was worried about the reaction during his speech.

That's actually pretty funny, worried about the reaction . Its like he never returns after that, the heat lovers are out to get him!

I believe he was invited as a guest speaker to the event above because he was one of the ones who got the Libya reading nullified.

Christopher Burt on the Al Aziziyah reading:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weathe ... ntrynum=89

Just a case of whoever arranged for Burt to come, not doing their homework.

It would be interesting to hear what his speech said about Death Valley. So far his blog hasn't said anything about how the speech went.

Quote:
Also there is going to be a video/transcript of his speech from that?

Here's what his blog (which I have followed for a long time because I like his corrections to various weather readings) says:

Asked by DonnieBwkG:

Dr. Burt will your talk at Death Valley on July 10th be available on line in real time or on a video later?

Burt:

Quote:
I hope not since some may not be happy about my view of the valididty of the 134° reading. Also, I am not a 'Doc' but thanks for the consideration and your comment!

You can read more by following the comments on his blog entry:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weathe ... commenttop

I know about his blog but don't read it often, but I'm very interested in his work. His saying "I hope not" is a signal he expects something bad .