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Record-Setting Weather

Meet a scientist who investigates weather extremes

March/April 2023

By Jessica McKenna-Ratjen

COURTESY OF AMANDA LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY/RANDALL CERVENY

Randy Cerveny

During the summer of 2020, a weather station in Death Valley, California, recorded a temperature of 54°C (130°F). That’s just a little cooler than the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth!

Was the reading accurate? It’s Randy Cerveny’s job to find out. He helps verify weather records for the World Meteorological Organization. Cerveny gathers photos and records from local weather scientists. Experts study the data to determine if the record is valid. Investigations can take years. Cerveny’s team is still testing the instrument from Death Valley.

Documenting weather extremes is important for many reasons, says Cerveny. It helps engineers understand how to design buildings and bridges. And knowing how hot or cold a place can get can help doctors give medical advice to keep us safe.

Where Lightning Strikes

These five states had the most lightning strikes per square kilometer in 2021.

DIG INTO THE DATA

Which state had more lightning strikes: Mississippi or Florida?

^{_{SOURCES: STATISTA, VAISALA}}

High Temperatures

Check out the hottest recorded temperature for each continent.

NORTH AMERICA: 134°F
FURNACE CREEK, CA, USA (JULY 10, 1913)

SOUTH AMERICA: 120°F
RIVADAVIA, ARGENTINA (DECEMBER 11, 1905)

EUROPE: 118°F
ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 10, 1977)

AFRICA: 131°F
KEBILI, TUNISIA (JULY 7, 1931)

ASIA: 128°F
TURBAT, PAKISTAN (MAY 28, 2017)

AUSTRALIA: 123°F
OODNADATTA, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 2, 1960)

ANTARCTICA: 65°F
ESPERANZA STATION (FEBRUARY 6, 2020)

DIG INTO THE DATA

Which continent has the warmest high on record?

_{^{SOURCE: WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION}}

Tornadoes by the Numbers

Learn about some of the most extreme U.S. tornado records.

MOST TORNADOES IN ONE MONTH: 817
(April 2011)

STRONGEST MEASURED WINDS: 301 MPH
Bridge Creek, OK (May 1999)

COSTLIEST TORNADO: $2.8 BILLION
Joplin, MO (May 2011)

LARGEST TORNADO: 2.6 MILES WIDE
El Reno, OK (May 2013)

^{_{SOURCE: STORM PREDICTION CENTER}}

Earth Science

Climate & Weather, Natural Disasters

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