What is the hottest temperature recorded on earth?
The official “hottest temperature ever” is the 135.9F/57.7C in Libya in 1922, as previously noted. Rare “heat bursts” can result in even higher temperatures over localized areas for brief periods of time, but none of these has been recorded at an official weather station. A temperature of 140F/60C was reported in Texas in 1970, and the extreme claimed heat-burst temperature was an asphalt-melting 188F/86.7C. A better-documented example occurred on the coast near Santa Barbara, California, in 1859. Temperatures rose from the 70s Fahrenheit in the morning to 133F/56C by 2 pm and remained above 130F for nearly three hours before cooling to 77F/25C two hours later. The 133 degree reading stood as the US record until Death Valley reached 134 degrees in 1913.
