My nephew recently returned from a six-month tour in Iraq. He said the termperature routinely reached the 130s F, with the highest during that period being 146 F. This is in line with what friends of mine who grew up in Iraq have said, that the temperature often reaches into the 130s F. Yet according to Wikipedia the highest termperature ever recorded in Iraq was 125.7 F in Basra on June 14, 2010. Any thoughts on the discrepency?
The official temperature is likely in the shade, while out in the direct sun it can be a lot higher.
When you put a thermometer in sunlight you’re not measuring air temperature - you’re measuring how hot the thermometer gets when it and the things surrounding it are exposed to the sun. For example, on a sunny day a thermometer will read higher if you place it on black pavement than if you place it on a light-colored concrete sidewalk.
Its just not true.
Baghdad averages around 110 degrees F. during the mid summer. Does it sometimes reach 115 or even approach 120, yes, but it has never been 130 or even close to it.
There may be some other areas in Iraq that get a little warmer than Baghdad, but it would only be by 2 or 3 degrees at most.
I sometimes even hear about ridiculously high temperatures in Iraq on the news.
Is it hot in Iraq in the summer? Most assuredly, yes, but lets not exaggerate.
Obviously the people that are posting that it rarely gets above 120 degrees in Iraq have never been there. i was in Iraq for 3 combat deployments and i have countless pictures of thermometer that were in the shade showing 120-125 on a regular basis. it would sometimes reach 127-130 which would happen a dozen times or so during the summer months of the deployment. I was in the Baghdad area on all 3 deployments. We had thermometers in the building we were living out of and it was typically about 90-95 in the air-conditioned building. The best way to describe the heat wave that hits you when getting off the plane is when you open the oven door to check on something baking and the wave of hot air hits your face drying out your eyes and making you squinted. its is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Add the power of the sun to the heat there, the heat index, and the temp would reach the 140’s. If you ask anyone who was there running missions OUTDOORS they will tell you the same. It is a shame that people will post something with nothing but a internet search backing there statement.
Official temperatures are measured by a highly accurate thermometer inside of a white louvered box that is elevated off the ground and set away from other structures. Any other measurement doesn’t count, especially if it comes from a round clock-looking thing nailed to a wall.
The highest temperature ever recorded anywhere on earth is 134°F in Death Valley, CA. Even that is suspect as it was recorded in 1913.
This isn’t complicated. As Desert Nomad points out, shade temperature = / = OH MY GOD THIS SEATBELT IS BURNING MY NIPPLE.
I live in the desert south of Abu Dhabi and was here through most of the Summer last year. The temperature recorded by our car exceeded 50° C a few times (that translates to > 122° F). I believe that if it wasn’t in the middle of a city, the temperature would have been lower. Abu Dhabi (city) is always cooler by a few degrees, but since it is on the ocean, the humidity is much higher.
What’s 50° C like? It’s bad. You don’t stay outside unless you can’t avoid it. Supposedly, everything is supposed to shut down when the official temperature hits 50. Never saw it.
Man, I spent two summers in Iraq and I can’t believe the bullshit some vets come back and spread. It was regularly in the 110s, occasionally in the 120s, and NEVER in the 130s, let alone the 140s some outrageous people will tell you.
Seriously, the highest recorded temperature on Earth, ever, was 134 in California. 140-something fahrenheit has never happened, let alone on a regular basis like some people will tell you.
As Lamar Mundane says, official temperature records are taken under specific controlled conditions. The thermometer has to be the right height off the ground (5 feet IIRC), it has to be in a white ventilated box (Stevenson screen), and it must not be situated over concrete, asphalt or any other artificial surface that will radiate excess heat.
So yes, it’s quite possible that a car thermometer (exposed to radiation from the road, even if not direct sunlight) could read 10 degrees or more higher than an official meteorological station nearby. Same goes for a thermometer nailed on the side of a building.
Does that mean people aren’t exposed to those higher temperatures? Not at all, but you can’t count them for record purposes.
This is a typical statement coming from someone who spent time in Iraq, and is not all that untrue. I am sure the thermometer displayed those temperatures, but they were not accurate readings. Like others pointed out, there are specific ways to measure the official temperature, and just being in the shade is not enough. Hell, put a thermometer in a metal shipping container that is sitting in the sunlight on a 115 degree day and that thermometer sittin gin the shade could very well read in excess if 140 degrees, if it will go that high.
Without knowledge on how official temperature is measured, most people will see 130 degrees on a thermometer and think that it is really 130 degrees.
Me
It is also a shame that people will post something without understanding the least little bit about how official temperatures are measured.
I’m willing to grant people who report 130s and 140s temperatures aren’t lying, but I spent two summers there, with a fair amount of time spent outdoors in the sun, and never saw a thermometer, informally or not, report anything higher than the low 120s. I saw a car thermometer measure 128 in Kuwait once, and nothing higher than around 123 in Iraq. I’m having a hard time imagining where people are getting 140 degree measurements from.
Maybe 2004 and 2007 were mild years and I just got lucky?
I was going to respond that the Wikipedia list was wrong, with the highest temperature recorded having been in Libya, but a quick Google to confirm it found that the record was overturned last Fall. It might just be me, but I find the analysis described in rejecting the record-setting reading to be fascinating.
I find it interesting how many people are quoting the internet and various other sources about how others are wrong. Sure the official temperature may not reach above 126.4F, but you have to look at the specific situation. Many of these guys are wearing body armor inside of a vehicle with no AC in direct sunlight. So while the little white louvered box may not read 140F, they sure are experiencing that type of heat. Many confuse heat index with official temperatures. Heat index takes into account the humidity, environment and type of work being performed.
Because sitting in body armour inside of a sweltering vehicle, you can get arbitrarily hot. Temperature records would be meaningless if you could just take the reading wherever you wanted, which is why meteorologists use a standard thermometer screen.
Nobody is trying to argue that people on service in Iraq aren’t regularly exposed to temperatures of 140F or even hotter, but that has no bearing on the “record temperature”, which has to be recorded under standard conditions. The maximum temperature ever recorded in the UK is 101F, but I have certainly experienced higher temperatures than that, e.g. in a car in summer without AC.
C’mon, people… We’re military - we’re not happy until we’re complaining about something, and sometimes we exaggerate for effect. That makes us even happier.
Damned civilians! 
Humidity, yes.
But environment and type of work being performed? How does the weatherman / lady quoting the heat index for the day know what type of work I’ll be performing?
Or are you exaggerating for effect?
The people who are experiencing these temperatures are rarely in a white ventilated box suspended 5 feet in the air not over asphalt or concrete. If you are standing on black top and its 130 degrees its 130 fucking degrees where you are standing. The fact that it is not official is little comfort.
If we’re using personal experience of heat as a measure, I’d say the civilian covered in white phosphorous has you beat.