What the 'hottest day on record' really means | Popular Science

Death Valley National Park is located in Eastern California. During the summer it is one of the hottest places on Earth where the highest recorded temperature of it reached 54.4°C or 130F.

However, whenever the hottest temperature gets updated a historical artifact claiming that the hottest temperature it reached is actually 57°C or 134F. This was assessed and is claimed as an observer error.

The Automated Surface Observing Systems (asos) is what we use to collect data of temperatures, precipitation, cloud cover, wind speed, and pressure.

We have been using the asos since the mid-90s and on average these send data reports every 20 minutes.

Official weather-taking themometers are different from the ones that people install in their houses. These official thermometers need to be shielded from external factors that can influence the temperature outcome.