You Thought It Got Hot In the Summer in Missouri! Not Even Close!
If you are a native of Missouri or you have spent a summer or two in the Show-Me State, you know it can get rather balmy during the summer months. But there's two locations, one in the U.S. that best a hot day in Missouri by 70 some degrees!
Combine the heat and humidity in July and August in Missouri and you can say it's almost unbearable at times. We've seen heat indexes ranging from 100-110 degrees and above at times. But when it comes down to it being just a hot day according to the thermometer, two locations are like a blast furnace.
It used to be that Death Valley was one of the hottest spots not only in the United States but also around the world. The hottest air temperature was recorded at Furnace Creek area in the California desert. The high temperature? 134..1 degrees Fahrenheit. But wait there's still two more locations that actually have hotter surface temperatures.
According to an article on sciencemag.org, Here's some updated information:
A new analysis of high-resolution satellite data finds the Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert along the Mexican-U.S. border have recently reached a sizzling 80.8°C (177.4°F).
The article goes on to explain the difference between surface temperature and air temperature. You'll usually find the surface temperature much hotter. Here's how they described it:
“Think of your car sitting in a parking lot on a summer day and how the handle burns your fingers. Or the sand burning your feet at the beach."
So the next time someone tells you it's hot in Missouri, you can say, "Yeah, but it's not as hot as Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert!." In fact you have the scientific evidence to back that statement up!