Context

• One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 54.4 degrees Celsius
• The high temperature is a result of a‘heat dome’ that is smothering the west coast of the USA.

Back to basics

• The Death Valley in southeastern California is the lowest point in the North American continent,and is a National Park.
• Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert.
• It is one of the hottest places on Earth, along with deserts in the Middle Eastand the Sahara.
• Death Valley’s Badwater Basinis the point of lowest elevation in North America.
• Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve.
• It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Rangeon the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively.
• The highest point in Death Valley National Park is Telescope Peak, in the Panamint Range.
• Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate(Köppen: BWh), with long, extremely hot summers; short, mild winters; and little rainfall.

Heat Dome

• Heat Domes is high-pressure circulation traps hot ocean air like a lid or a cap trapping heat at the surface and favouring the formation of a heat wave.
• Sometimes, the scorching heatis ensnared in what is called a heat dome.
• High-pressure circulationin the atmosphere acts like a dome or cap, trapping heat at the surface and favoring the formation of a heat wave.

Furnace Creek

• A census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California.
• Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest recorded air temperature on Earth at 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913.
• Furnace Creek also holds the record for the highest recorded natural ground surface temperature on Earth at 201 °F (93.9 °C) on July 15, 1972.

Source: The Hindu and Wikipedia