Hottest weather ever? Death Valley hits 130º this weekend

This past Sunday Furnace Creek, CA hit a scorching 130º. If this is confirmed, it will be the third-hottest temperature ever recorded on earth. The all-time record was set in 1913 at 134º.

Many meteorologists dispute this record due to lower-grade technology employed in that time. If you were to disregard the old record, this would be the hottest undisputed temperature ever recorded on the planet.

The culprit is a crushing dome of high pressure that's developed over the Continental Divide. It's being amplified by a strong trough of low pressure in eastern Canada.

This is the same trough responsible for our beautiful weather that we'll have much of this week!

This heat is expected to last for the rest of the week. Temperatures could very easily flirt with the 130-mark once again in Death Valley. Alongside the heat, we talked about massive wildfires that are raging out of control across the Western U.S. too--

The high pressure acts like a cap on the atmosphere, keep the smoke stuck in place, leaving most with extremely smoky skies along and west of the rockies.

As the ridge slowly retracts and spreads east over the next several days, it will warm us back up, but likely lead to temperatures which are closer to average for this location, and here in our own backyards in mid-Missouri.

-Luke