9/23/2023 0 Comments Dasht e lut weather todayIn July and August, you’ll be sleeping in 30C heat even at 3am. Assab, EritreaĪssab ranks as the planet’s hottest city if you combine its annual mean day and night-time temperatures. The surrounding volcanic depression features a chain of white salt lakes, acidic hot springs and gas-belching geysers. It was logged at its lonely village of Dallol, which was originally settled by salt miners and is now largely abandoned. Northern Ethiopia’s remote Danakil Depression has two claims to fame: it’s reckoned to be where humans originally evolved (due to discovery of many hominin fossils) and holds the record for Earth’s hottest inhabited place based on an average annual temperature from 1960-1966 of 34.4C. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia (Alamy) 6. The desert blends three habitats: wide salt-flat plateaus, wind-sculpted ridges or ravines, and sand dunes. The leader is this uninhabitable desert plateau in Iran, also known as Dasht-e Lut (the “Plain of Emptiness”), which registered 70.7C in 2005. Thanks to satellite measurements by Nasa, land surface (aka land skin) temperatures - basically, the heating of surfaces, rather than of the air - in hard-to-reach, remote areas offer another metric for literal hotspots. Today, its main industry is petrol production. Neighbouring an oasis within southern Algeria’s portion of the Sahara, Ouargla used to lure tourists seeking sand roses (gypsum crystal clusters) at its traditional souk and even inspired a boogie-woogie tune by Memphis Slim prior to the Algerian War. Some meteorological historians dispute Kebili’s record, too, leaving this wealthy university city top, thanks to 2018’s indisputable chronicling of 51.3C - although, confoundingly, days can dip below freezing here come winter. The dunes of the Sahara border at a salt lake near Ouargla (Alamy) 4. Summers remain boiling, with 40C days frequent. An attractive mud-brick arch leads to its southerly palm-tree oasis, beyond which begins vast Chott el Djerid - the biggest Saharan salt pan. One of the continent’s longest-inhabited places, Kebili had previously spent time under Roman control and, tragically, as a key slave hub. Kebili, TunisiaĮl Azizia’s disqualification leaves this central Tunisian town the location of the hottest temperature recorded in Africa: 55C, in 1931. Twenty-five miles south of Tripoli and flanked by golden sand dunes, it’s a place where residents understandably do much of their market shopping or socialising as night falls. Nevertheless, weather stations still frequently announce 48C here each summer. However, this was declared invalid in 2012 by meteorologists who doubted the mercury-readers’ prowess. Though it remains searing, wildlife from pupfish to jackrabbits impressively endure amid the salt creeks, water-carved canyons and mesquite thickets of what is now a national park.Īlso known as ʽAziziya, this small town allegedly bested Death Valley after chalking up 58C at an Italian army base in 1922. More recently, in July 2023, Badwater Basin recorded a night-time high of 48.9C at midnight. Nineteen years later, America’s lowest spot duly registered the highest documented air temperature on earth of 56.7C at Furnace Creek. “The loneliest, hottest, most deadly and dangerous spot in the United States - a pit of horrors.” So was Death Valley fearfully described by a New York World writer in 1894. Stovepipe Wells way-station in the north of Death Valley (Alamy) 1. If you click and buy a product, we may earn revenue. These buttons and adverts are clearly signposted, and provide direct links through to external sites. We also feature properties and itineraries from a specially selected list of trusted operators. Our travel journalism is written and edited by independent experts to inform, inspire and advise our readers about the best choices for your holidays.
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