# Death Valley hits 130 degrees **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-valley-hits-130-degrees/662311 "2013-07-01T02:07:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-valley-hits-130-degrees/662311/21 "2013-07-04T03:50:47Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > On the hot day (Sunday?) a fellow went to Badwater with his digital thermometer and got a 135.5 reading, which is hotter than any official reading anywhere, ever. The problem is that official temps are measured with official equipment in standard little white wooden boxes a specified distance from the ground, etc. Those boxes give daily info to various agencies that turn it over the the NWS. There is no such box at Badwater. The geography at Badwater, right next to a mountain and at very low altitude will yield higher air pressures, increasing temperature per the gas laws, and should be the hottest non-geothermal natural place on the planet. But it might not qualify for a white box for the same sort of reasons: you expect extreme temps there. Yes, but one could argue that Furnace Creek should not qualify for a “white box” because its 192 feet below sea level so of course its going to get hot. I still think Badwater should have one. I’m sure there is a spot somewhere in Badwater that is far enough away from a mountain to give an accurate temperature reading. Why disqualify the place just because one expects the temperature to get exceptionally high? ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-valley-hits-130-degrees/662311/22 "2013-07-04T06:01:09Z")
Badwater had a temperature sensor according to this [page](http://www.john-daly.com/stations/badwater.htm). (Warning: It’s a AGW skeptic site). I don’t know if the sensor still there though; anybody been to Badwater in the past couple of years? Speaking of boxes…you need the box called a [Stevenson Screen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevenson_screen) in order to ensure your measuring the temperature of the air without interference from wind, sun, and at a standard height in order to provide a consistent reading with a minimal amount of error. Temperature sensors can be pretty elaborate. Back in college, I was looking for a precision air temperature sensor. One vendor listed a sensor which used two sets of silvered Dewar walled tubes (one inside of the other) with a fan on top which created suction to draw up the sample air past a calibrated Platinum RTD. The accuracy was something like ±0.05° F for a range of 200(?) degrees. FWIW: I read recently that the world temperature record reading of 134° F was taken during a sandstorm. One argued that the sand particles were impinging on the thermometer and raising the temp. Why should we be suspicious? Since 1913, IIRC the readings have never come close since then. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-valley-hits-130-degrees/662311/23 "2013-07-04T07:04:54Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That’s the temperature of a nice oven for cooking a roast! A roast doesn’t have heat regulation capability like a human. Human bodies according to [some theories](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_running_hypothesis#Increased_efficiency) have evolved to be very good at dumping heat. Now, that can be overwhelmed of course; but it does mean that we can withstand air temperatures that would cook dead meat for a short time until it _is_ overwhelmed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-valley-hits-130-degrees/662311.md?page=1)