Death Valley hits 127 Monday, just shy of Sunday’s high of 130

Death Valley fell just short Monday of the 130 degrees recorded Sunday afternoon.

The National Weather Service recorded the high of 127 at 3 p.m., according to its website.

Earlier Monday, the temperature had already reached 117 at 10 a.m. at the visitors center at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park — 6 degrees warmer than the 10 a.m. Sunday reading of 111, according to the National Weather Service.

“This doesn’t mean it will get 6 degrees hotter. In fact, I’m sure it won’t,” said warning coordination meteorologist Dan Berc of the Las Vegas office.

“Last night, some clouds came over and, as a result, the (Monday) overnight low was 104, which is extremely hot,” Berc said. The overnight low Sunday morning was 98.

Some scattered clouds were developing Monday morning, but Berc said they probably would not hinder the day’s warming process. At 11 a.m. Monday, the reading was 120. At noon, it was 122 and by 1 p.m. it had reached 123.

“A high of 130 today is certainly within the realm of possibility,” he said.

The high of 130 degrees recorded Sunday would be one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the park if it is confirmed.

The weather service said, in a statement released through Twitter, that “if verified, this will be the hottest temperature officially verified since July of 1913, also at Death Valley.”

The service said the 130 was recorded at 3:41 p.m. at Furnace Creek near the visitors center “using a National Weather Service owned automated observation system.”

🥵Yep it was HOT out there today...

So hot in fact, that the PRELIMINARY high temperature @DeathValleyNPS was 130°F. If verified, this will be the hottest temperature officially verified since July of 1913. For more info...https://t.co/qFXcIVoPig#DeathValley #Climate #CAwx pic.twitter.com/lAl8NQDCyp

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) August 17, 2020

The agency also said, “This is an extreme temperature event. The recorded temperature will need to undergo a formal review. A Climate Extremes Committee will be formed to verify the validity of the 130°F reading.”

According to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization, the official keeper and verifier of global climate extremes, the highest air temperature recorded anywhere in the world is 134 degrees at Death Valley’s Greenland Ranch on July 10, 1913.

But in 2016, an analysis of the 103-year-old weather observation threw cold water on the park’s claim to the world record for heat.

In Las Vegas, the 1 p.m. Monday temperature at McCarran Internation Airport was 106. The high is expected to reach 114, which would be the hottest day of the year.

Marvin Clemons can be reached at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal news editor Mark Davis contributed to this report.