Last Month in Death Valley Was Hottest Month Ever Recorded on Earth

Death Valley, well known for its often record high temperatures, has set a new one: Last month in Death Valley was the hottest month ever recorded on the planet Earth. The average temperature—over day and night—was 108.1 degrees, putting July 2018 about a half-degree ahead of July 2017, which was previously the hottest month ever measured. On 21 days of the month, the high temperature hit at least 120 degrees; for one four-day stretch, it hit 127 degrees. The Las Vegas Review-Journal notes one visitor died due to the heat.

As the Washington Post reports, July saw record-high temperatures on every continent in the Northern Hemisphere, and much of the western US was hit particularly hard, with other California locations setting heat records. The state's extreme heat—"the likes of which it has never seen in the modern historical record," per the LA Times—is contributing to its worst wildfire year on record. (More Death Valley National Park stories.)