Death Valley heat record may be invalidated

[crescent]

An Investigation of Death Valley’s 134°F World Temperature Record

It is possible to demonstrate that a temperature of 134°F in Death Valley on July 10, 1913, was essentially not possible from a meteorological perspective, using an officially sanctioned USWB shelter and thermometer and following proper procedures observationally. Thus, the best explanation for the record high report(s) in July 1913 is observer error.

I lived and worked in Death Valley for five years. It is an amazing place, and was fun to work at due to the staff camaraderie.

Temps of 127 F were actually pretty common, but that seemed to mark some barrier. It got up to 128 once or twice while I was there and 129 a few years after I moved away. Since the 1913 record, the next highest temperature in Death Valley was 129.2. So this analysis seems pretty valid to me - and the 129.2 reading would now be the highest ever recorded (a tie with a station in Kuwait), so DV is still the hottest place on the planet, at least as far as daytime high temps in summer go..

 

[Dr. Keith]

Probably the guy reading it exhaled on the thermometer. Those gauges are sensitive enough to record that sort of difference.

How many posts until someone points out that warm breath is far cooler than 129F?

 

[Hungry81]

Probably the guy reading it exhaled on the thermometer. Those gauges are sensitive enough to record that sort of difference.

How many posts until someone points out that warm breath is far cooler than 129F?

Is too. If he was a dragon. Nyeh [emoji13]

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[Modified]

Relative humidity was 6% during the supposed record. That would really dry you out. I've been in the area when highs were 112 to 117 and relative humidity as low as 5%, and pretty much had a bloody nose the whole time.

 

[Beerina]

Saw a show about this a few years back. From what I recall this was out of alignment with other sensors in the area.

 

[Puppycow]

I lived and worked in Death Valley for five years. It is an amazing place, and was fun to work at due to the staff camaraderie.

Temps of 127 F were actually pretty common, but that seemed to mark some barrier.

What does that feel like? And how long could a person tolerate that?

 

[crescent]

What does that feel like? And how long could a person tolerate that?

Odd.

The Rh gets very low - the 6% reading from 1913 seems kind of high to me. With the Rh that low, it does not feel as hot as it truly is, but things dry out unbelievably fast. The very low Rh seems to be one of the most noticeable things. My evaporative cooler could keep my apartment somewhat comfortable even if it was 120 degrees out. I also had an air conditioner but didn't need it unless I wanted quiet (the evap cooler was loud).

If one was in an air-conditioned building and stepped outside into heat like that, one would get goosebumps for a few moments, I think from the moisture in one's skin evaporating off quickly. If a person focused on maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance, and wore the right sort of clothing, a person could be surprisingly active in temps up to about 115 F. I could run a 5k in temps like that, it I planned and hydrated in advance, midway through, and could actively cool down afterwards (stand in front of blasting AC with an icepack on my head).

I would hang up my laundry to dry. Take a pair of socks out of the basket, put them on the line. Keep adding things from the basket. Once done, take the first pair of socks off the line and keep removing things in the order that they were put on the line. That worked for most lighter fabrics, but denim pants and other heavy fabrics might require as much as 15 minutes on the line to dry.

It looks different on the really hot days, smells different, and even sounds different - it seemed quieter to me above 120.

I grew up in fairly dry places, I would take a very dry 120 over a humid 95 any day.

 

[3point14]

I got out of an air conditioned car in the Nevada desert. It was like being hit in the face with something kinetic. I got back into the car with the aircon.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Odd.

The Rh gets very low - the 6% reading from 1913 seems kind of high to me. With the Rh that low, it does not feel as hot as it truly is, but things dry out unbelievably fast. The very low Rh seems to be one of the most noticeable things. My evaporative cooler could keep my apartment somewhat comfortable even if it was 120 degrees out. I also had an air conditioner but didn't need it unless I wanted quiet (the evap cooler was loud).

If one was in an air-conditioned building and stepped outside into heat like that, one would get goosebumps for a few moments, I think from the moisture in one's skin evaporating off quickly. If a person focused on maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance, and wore the right sort of clothing, a person could be surprisingly active in temps up to about 115 F. I could run a 5k in temps like that, it I planned and hydrated in advance, midway through, and could actively cool down afterwards (stand in front of blasting AC with an icepack on my head).

I would hang up my laundry to dry. Take a pair of socks out of the basket, put them on the line. Keep adding things from the basket. Once done, take the first pair of socks off the line and keep removing things in the order that they were put on the line. That worked for most lighter fabrics, but denim pants and other heavy fabrics might require as much as 15 minutes on the line to dry.

It looks different on the really hot days, smells different, and even sounds different - it seemed quieter to me above 120.

I grew up in fairly dry places, I would take a very dry 120 over a humid 95 any day.

It's interesting, with low Rh, I've only expererienced Nevada temps around 100F, but done so while wearing a heavy 14oz woolen fully canvassed suit (that is very heavily padded in the chest and fairly so in the front, plus lining...). That would actually keep you, well, not comfortable but warm enough at close to freezing temps. But I was fine in the desert too.

 

[Dr. Keith]

If a person focused on maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance, and wore the right sort of clothing, a person could be surprisingly active in temps up to about 115 F.

I found myself with some spare time in Vegas on a hot day and headed out to the Calloway driving range and par 3 course just off the strip. I rented some clubs and hit balls for about an hour and then played a round of golf walking. I think it was just 9 holes, but it could be 18 short holes. I sat in the shade a bit after and then played another round with a couple in a cart, so I had to pick up my walking pace a bit. As I played I stayed in the shade as much as possible and it was quite comfortable. As I was turning my clubs back in I noticed a heat warning sign, apparently it was over 115.

I think it helped that I was wearing a nice wide brimmed hat and appropriate clothes. I also tend to drink tons of water on a day like that and this was no different.

I know golf isn't like running a 5k but I am typically a sweaty mess after walking a round of golf. I was not so bad this day.

 

[baron]

Far too hot if you ask me. I can't deal with anything over 80°F and prefer 55 - 65°F. I don't wear a jacket outside until it's 40°F or under, unless it's raining. I don't know how people can exist in such heat. I was once in Athens when it was 110°F+ and it was like walking through the fires of Hell.

 

[The Don]

Odd.

The Rh gets very low - the 6% reading from 1913 seems kind of high to me. With the Rh that low, it does not feel as hot as it truly is, but things dry out unbelievably fast. The very low Rh seems to be one of the most noticeable things. My evaporative cooler could keep my apartment somewhat comfortable even if it was 120 degrees out. I also had an air conditioner but didn't need it unless I wanted quiet (the evap cooler was loud).

If one was in an air-conditioned building and stepped outside into heat like that, one would get goosebumps for a few moments, I think from the moisture in one's skin evaporating off quickly. If a person focused on maintaining hydration and electrolyte balance, and wore the right sort of clothing, a person could be surprisingly active in temps up to about 115 F. I could run a 5k in temps like that, it I planned and hydrated in advance, midway through, and could actively cool down afterwards (stand in front of blasting AC with an icepack on my head).

I would hang up my laundry to dry. Take a pair of socks out of the basket, put them on the line. Keep adding things from the basket. Once done, take the first pair of socks off the line and keep removing things in the order that they were put on the line. That worked for most lighter fabrics, but denim pants and other heavy fabrics might require as much as 15 minutes on the line to dry.

It looks different on the really hot days, smells different, and even sounds different - it seemed quieter to me above 120.

I grew up in fairly dry places, I would take a very dry 120 over a humid 95 any day.

Walked a couple of miles from Downtown Las Vegas to a relative's house at around noon in the Summer. Cannot imagine running a 5k in that kind of heat.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

I've been to Ft Irwin in August and South Carolina in July. They both sucked, but only South Carolina had heat index days, where temperature and humidity in combination are dangerously high. At Ft Irwin we were in battle rattle the whole time, which sucks, but we didn't have to do PT in the sun just because it was Thursday.

 

[crescent]

Walked a couple of miles from Downtown Las Vegas to a relative's house at around noon in the Summer. Cannot imagine running a 5k in that kind of heat.

Walking in the heat could be worse than running.

Think of doing something that involves a "turn around time" - a time limit when you start back to base, mission accomplished or not. It's a key safety concept for people who climb mountains, or do scuba diving, cave exploration, or other such activities. They key to functioning in the extreme heat is to make sure to leave enough functionality left in yourself to get back out of the heat, with room for error. You turn around before you feel bad, that way you know you can get back.

In DV during the extreme heat, you think of a clock ticking the moment you go outdoors. Your body will shed as much heat as it can, but your body temp will still begin to rise. Eventually your body reaches the point where the temp shedding functions stop working, and you heat up even faster. Fit people can usually shed heat longer than unfit people, but every body functions a bit differently. Plus, a runner in good shape can cover a given distance burning fewer calories running than if the runner walks.

So, a few hours before the run I would start to drink a whole lot of watered down sports drink - one or two parts water to every one part drink. I would start this hours early. Then just before the run, I would drink another liter of it. 1/4 of the way I would stop for a moment, drink some more and soak my shirt at a spigot along my usual route. Then I would run to the end of the route and double back. Stop again at the spigot to soak the shirt and drink again. Finish the route. As soon as back inside I would be dehydrated enough already to chug another liter of the stuff while getting an icepack out of the freezer, putting it on my head and standing directly in front of the swamp cooler vent with the cooler running full blast - because my body temp had already risen, probably a few degrees.

So the key to doing the run as opposed to walking is that I could do the run in less time than it took to walk the same distance. The run took me about 1/2 hour (kind of slow for a 5k, but I didn't push it, and there was terrain along the route). I only had to function in the heat for 1/2 hour. You probably spent longer than that walking, which might have made your walk harder than my run.

That was ten years ago. I don't think I could do that anymore.

 

[Modified]

What does that feel like? And how long could a person tolerate that?

You can experience temps close to or above the record. Go to Vegas on an average midsummer day (104 F and sunny) and walk across a blacktop parking lot. The difference when you step from there to grass or white concrete pavement is tremendous.

As some above pointed out, an average hot day there is more comfortable overall than a cooler summer day someplace like Tampa or New Orleans. The heat index is about the same, but that is a short term measure. In New Orleans if you move around much you will end up soaked in sweat that won't evaporate in a reasonable time even if you sit still in the shade.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

Even when the air temps are "only" in the 90s sunlit surfaces can reach 140+ F easily. The initial record readings both in Death Valley and the Middle East could have been affected by sunlit surfaces radiating. And the hot pavement radiating increases the perceived air temperature above what the wet and dry bulbs tell you.

 

[Emily's Cat]

RH makes a really massive difference. I've been in Las Vegas at 115F and very low RH, and been relatively comfortable. I've also been in Orlando at 85F and 95% RH and been pretty sure I was gonna die. Honestly, 80F here in Washington feels hotter than 100F in Vegas when I visit my sister.

 

[Puppycow]

Yeah, I've never been to Death Valley or Las Vegas but I am familiar with hot humid weather here in Tokyo. A hot summer day here is when it gets over 35C or 95F. The mean Rh is over 70 too. The record for Tokyo is only 39.5C or 103F though. But it's always humid here in the summer. And even nights in August are uncomfortably hot.

You get mold and mildew here, something I suppose doesn't happen in Death Valley.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

A family friend from New Orleans was baffled by the idea of hanging a washcloth on the edge of the sink to dry.

 

[Trebuchet]

A family friend from New Orleans was baffled by the idea of hanging a washcloth on the edge of the sink to dry.

I've been to New Orleans. I think they'd be baffled by the concept of "dry". At least in the summer. I've actually seen it snow there. They were pretty freaked out.