Death Valley breaks 100-year-old record for hottest month ever in July
There’s hot, and then there’s Death Valley hot.
While Southern California and much of the West cooked in July under a pair of heat waves that killed livestock, knocked out power and encouraged wildfires, nowhere was the heat more brutally enduring than in Death Valley.
For the record:
7:26 p.m. April 24, 2024This article incorrectly says the world heat record was reached in Death Valley on June 10, 1913. It was reached in July 10, 1913.
According to the National Weather Service, Death Valley National Park broke its 100-year-old record for the hottest month ever in July, when the average temperature was 107.4 degrees, eclipsing the 1917 record of 107.2 degrees.
Though 107 degrees doesn’t sound that bad, keep in mind the average includes nighttime temperatures.
The average overnight temperature in Death Valley last month was 95 degrees.
The average daytime high was 119.6 degrees, said meteorologist Alex Boothe.
“It looks like there were a couple of days below 115,” he said — a consolation of some sort.
The hottest day of the month was July 7, when it reached 127 degrees. It also reached that temperature twice in June.
The world record for heat was reached in Death Valley on June 10, 1913, when it reached 134 degrees.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.
ALSO
Lightning has already struck 2,100 times in Southern California this week. More is coming
What’s behind Southern California’s summer rain and thunderstorms?
Congress takes aim at the Clean Air Act, putting the limits of California’s power to the test
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
