California’s Death Valley sets record for hottest month ever on earth for second year in a row

A couple poses at a thermometer in Death Valley National Park, California on July 26 (Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal/PA) Credit: AP/Press Association Images

Preliminary data show that Death Valley, California, set the world record for hottest July for the second straight year.

National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Lericos said the month’s average temperature at Furnace Creek in Death Valley was 108.1F (42.28C).

That eclipses the record set in Death Valley in July 2017 when the average was 107.4Fs (41.89C).

Mr Lericos said last month saw a persistent pattern of high pressure set up over the south west, restricting the movement of air vertically in the atmosphere and creating a heat wave.

Mr Lericos said the data must be reviewed before the record becomes official.

Notoriously blistering Death Valley holds the world record for highest temperature recorded, 134F (56.67C),set on July 10 1913.