Top 10 Hottest Air Temperatures Ever Recorded on Earth
The ten highest officially recorded air temperatures on Earth, one per country, from Death Valley's 56.7 °C in 1913 down to Mexicali's 52.0 °C.
Updated October 1, 202610 ranked5 sources
Quick answer: 1. Furnace Creek, Death Valley (United States), 2. Kebili (Tunisia), 3. Tirat Zvi (Israel), 4. Mitribah (Kuwait), 5. Basra (Iraq), 6. Turbat (Pakistan), 7. Ahvaz (Iran), 8. Sanbao, Turpan (China), 9. Sweihan (United Arab Emirates), 10. Mexicali (Mexico).
The hottest air temperature ever officially measured on Earth is 56.7 °C (134.1 °F), logged at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, on 10 July 1913. More than a century later it is still the World Meteorological Organization's world record, and only a handful of weather stations anywhere have come within five degrees of it.
This list ranks the ten highest air temperatures on record, counting each country once by its hottest reading. It is a list of official records, not of settled science: the three oldest readings at the top are all disputed by weather historians, and the most rigorously verified figures on the list are the 2016 and 2017 readings from Kuwait and Pakistan. Each entry says which kind of record it is.
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Air temperature (°C)
Air temperature (°C)
Furnace Creek, Death Valley (United States)
Kebili (Tunisia)
Tirat Zvi (Israel)
Mitribah (Kuwait)
Basra (Iraq)
Turbat (Pakistan)
Ahvaz (Iran)
Sanbao, Turpan (China)
Sweihan (United Arab Emirates)
Mexicali (Mexico)
5256.7
The ranking
1
Furnace Creek, Death Valley (United States)
The 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) logged at Furnace Creek, then called Greenland Ranch, on 10 July 1913 is the WMO's world record for the highest air temperature. Weather historians have long questioned whether the reading is plausible, but the WMO has not reopened it. The same site reached 54.4 °C (130 °F) on 16 August 2020 and again on 9 July 2021.
Temperature: 56.7 °C (134.1 °F)Location: Furnace Creek, CaliforniaCountry: United StatesDate: 10 July 1913Status: WMO world record (disputed)
2
Kebili (Tunisia)
Kebili's 55.0 °C from July 1931 is the WMO's highest temperature for Africa and for the Eastern Hemisphere. Like Death Valley's record it comes from the colonial-era instrument record and is doubted by many meteorologists; Tunisia's hottest modern reading is 50.3 °C at Kairouan in August 2021.
Temperature: 55.0 °C (131.0 °F)Location: KebiliCountry: TunisiaDate: July 1931Status: WMO record for Africa (disputed)
3
Tirat Zvi (Israel)
The kibbutz of Tirat Zvi in the Jordan Valley, about 220 m below sea level, recorded 54.0 °C on 21 June 1942, when the area was part of Mandatory Palestine. The WMO archive carries it as the record for its Region VI, which covers Europe and part of the Middle East, though the thermograph trace has been re-read by critics as closer to 53 °C.
Temperature: 54.0 °C (129.2 °F)Location: Tirat Zvi, Jordan ValleyCountry: IsraelDate: 21 June 1942Status: WMO Region VI record (disputed)
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4
Mitribah (Kuwait)
First reported as 54.0 °C, the 21 July 2016 reading at Mitribah in north-west Kuwait was put through a full WMO instrument evaluation and confirmed in 2019 at 53.9 °C, with an uncertainty of just 0.1 °C. The WMO accepts it as the highest temperature ever recorded in continental Asia and calls it and Turbat the highest officially recognised temperatures in 76 years.
Temperature: 53.9 °C (129.0 °F)Location: Mitribah, Al Jahra GovernorateCountry: KuwaitDate: 21 July 2016Status: WMO verified (2019)
5
Basra (Iraq)
Basra hit 53.9 °C on 22 July 2016, one day after neighbouring Kuwait's reading at Mitribah, during the same heatwave at the head of the Persian Gulf. It stands as Iraq's national record and ranks behind Kuwait here only because it was set a day later.
Temperature: 53.9 °C (129.0 °F)Location: BasraCountry: IraqDate: 22 July 2016Status: National record
6
Turbat (Pakistan)
Turbat, in Balochistan, was reported at 54.0 °C on 28 May 2017. The WMO's evaluation settled on 53.7 °C with a wider uncertainty of 0.4 °C, and ranks it the fourth-highest temperature it recognises worldwide. Wikipedia's national table lists a more conservative 53.5 °C.
Temperature: 53.7 °C (128.7 °F)Location: Turbat, BalochistanCountry: PakistanDate: 28 May 2017Status: WMO verified (2019)
7
Ahvaz (Iran)
Ahvaz Airport in Khuzestan province recorded 53.7 °C on 29 June 2017, a month after Turbat's reading. It is Iran's national record and, with Basra and Mitribah, the third station within a few hundred kilometres of the northern Persian Gulf to appear on this list.
Temperature: 53.7 °C (128.7 °F)Location: Ahvaz Airport, KhuzestanCountry: IranDate: 29 June 2017Status: National record
8
Sanbao, Turpan (China)
Sanbao township in the Turpan Depression of Xinjiang, a basin that drops below sea level, reached 52.2 °C on 16 July 2023. It is China's national record, and the only entry in the top ten first reached in the 2020s.
Temperature: 52.2 °C (126.0 °F)Location: Sanbao Township, Turpan, XinjiangCountry: ChinaDate: 16 July 2023Status: National record
9
Sweihan (United Arab Emirates)
The desert town of Sweihan, inland in the Al Ain region of Abu Dhabi, recorded 52.1 °C in July 2002. It remains the UAE's national record.
Temperature: 52.1 °C (125.8 °F)Location: Sweihan, Al AinCountry: United Arab EmiratesDate: July 2002Status: National record
10
Mexicali (Mexico)
Mexicali, in the Colorado Desert on the US border, reached 52.0 °C in July 1995, a national record that was equalled at Tepache, Sonora, on 20 June 2024. Jeddah in Saudi Arabia also reached 52.0 °C, on 22 June 2010, and shares this value.
Temperature: 52.0 °C (125.6 °F)Location: Mexicali, Baja CaliforniaCountry: MexicoDate: July 1995Status: National record
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Full comparison
#
Name
Temperature
Location
Country
Date
Status
1
Furnace Creek, Death Valley (United States)
56.7 °C (134.1 °F)
Furnace Creek, California
United States
10 July 1913
WMO world record (disputed)
2
Kebili (Tunisia)
55.0 °C (131.0 °F)
Kebili
Tunisia
July 1931
WMO record for Africa (disputed)
3
Tirat Zvi (Israel)
54.0 °C (129.2 °F)
Tirat Zvi, Jordan Valley
Israel
21 June 1942
WMO Region VI record (disputed)
4
Mitribah (Kuwait)
53.9 °C (129.0 °F)
Mitribah, Al Jahra Governorate
Kuwait
21 July 2016
WMO verified (2019)
5
Basra (Iraq)
53.9 °C (129.0 °F)
Basra
Iraq
22 July 2016
National record
6
Turbat (Pakistan)
53.7 °C (128.7 °F)
Turbat, Balochistan
Pakistan
28 May 2017
WMO verified (2019)
7
Ahvaz (Iran)
53.7 °C (128.7 °F)
Ahvaz Airport, Khuzestan
Iran
29 June 2017
National record
8
Sanbao, Turpan (China)
52.2 °C (126.0 °F)
Sanbao Township, Turpan, Xinjiang
China
16 July 2023
National record
9
Sweihan (United Arab Emirates)
52.1 °C (125.8 °F)
Sweihan, Al Ain
United Arab Emirates
July 2002
National record
10
Mexicali (Mexico)
52.0 °C (125.6 °F)
Mexicali, Baja California
Mexico
July 1995
National record
How we ranked this
Ranked by the highest air temperature officially recorded in each country, in degrees Celsius, measured in a standard shaded instrument shelter (air temperature, not ground or satellite surface temperature, which runs far hotter). One entry per country, taking its single highest reading, so Death Valley's 54.4 °C readings from 2020 and 2021 are not listed separately. Where the World Meteorological Organization has evaluated a record, this list follows the WMO value: 56.7 °C for Furnace Creek, 55.0 °C for Kebili, 54.0 °C for Tirat Zvi, and the WMO's 2019 verified figures of 53.9 °C for Mitribah and 53.7 °C for Turbat (both originally reported as 54.0 °C). Sources disagree here, and that choice matters: Wikipedia's table of national records sets aside the 1913 Death Valley and 1931 Kebili readings as unreliable and lists Mitribah at 54.0 °C and Turbat at 53.5 °C. The remaining entries (Iraq, Iran, China, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico) are national records as compiled in that Wikipedia table and have not been through a WMO evaluation. Ties are ordered by which reading was set first. Saudi Arabia's 52.0 °C at Jeddah on 22 June 2010 equals Mexico's record and misses tenth place only on that tie-break. The 58.0 °C reading from Al Aziziyah, Libya (1922) is excluded because the WMO invalidated it in 2012.
FAQ
What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth?
Officially, 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California, on 10 July 1913. That is the World Meteorological Organization's world record, although a number of weather historians doubt the 1913 reading.
What is the hottest reliably measured temperature?
The best-verified readings are 53.9 °C at Mitribah, Kuwait (21 July 2016) and 53.7 °C at Turbat, Pakistan (28 May 2017), both confirmed by a WMO instrument evaluation in 2019. Death Valley's 54.4 °C readings from August 2020 and July 2021 would exceed them but are listed as pending validation.
Why isn't Libya's 58 °C on the list?
The 58.0 °C reading from Al Aziziyah, Libya, on 13 September 1922 was treated as the world record for 90 years, but a WMO investigation invalidated it in 2012. The record then passed back to Death Valley's 1913 reading.
Is this air temperature or ground temperature?
Air temperature, measured in the shade in a standard instrument shelter above the ground. Ground and satellite-measured surface temperatures are much higher, and are not comparable with these records.
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