--- title: Heat Wave: Middle East Sets New Temperature Record description: Temperatures in Mitribah, Kuwait Thursday reached higher than any place outside Death Valley as a heat wave continues in the region canonical: https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-22T12:08:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:28:08.003Z article:section: Science og:title: Heat Wave: Middle East Sets New Temperature Record og:description: Temperatures in Mitribah, Kuwait Thursday reached higher than any place outside Death Valley as a heat wave continues in the region og:url: https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e5cfa7cc0bbf50/69889ec33c1639d70c45e263/heat-wave-kuwait-temperature-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: heat wave kuwait temperature record og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Heat Wave: Middle East Sets New Temperature Record twitter:description: Temperatures in Mitribah, Kuwait Thursday reached higher than any place outside Death Valley as a heat wave continues in the region twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e5cfa7cc0bbf50/69889ec33c1639d70c45e263/heat-wave-kuwait-temperature-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Middle East Sets New Temperature Record, and It's Blistering > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=237836a9-d48f-4c05-b2d6-3bce199b45dc&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2016 12:08 PM UTC  Heat waves distort the appearance of a car when the temperature reaches 119 degrees and rising as a heat wave spreads across the American West on June 30, 2013 in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Heat waves distort the appearance of a car when the temperature reaches 119 degrees and rising as a heat wave spreads across the American West on June 30, 2013 in Death Valley National Park, Calif. David McNew—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2016 12:08 PM UTC Temperatures Thursday reached an incredible 54°C (129.2°F) in Mitribah, Kuwait, setting the record for the warmest temperature ever recorded outside of California’s Death Valley, according to a Weather Underground [report](https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/eastern-hemispheres-alltime-temperature-record-kuwait-fries-in-54). The report, which still awaits confirmation, came during a heat wave that raised already sweltering temperatures across the region even higher. An all-time temperature record was set in Iraq where temperatures reached 128°F (53.4°C) at Basrah. Temperatures Thursday are expected to reach 126°F in Gotvand, Iran. The heat records push urban centers in the Middle East closer to becoming uninhabitable. [Research published last year](http://time.com/4087092/climate-change-heat-wave/?iid=sr-link2) showed that climate change could bring temperatures where humans cannot survive outside in cities along the Persian Gulf by 2100\. The threshold for [human survival](http://time.com/3903873/extreme-heat-india-body/?iid=sr-link2), which needs to take into account heat and humanity, is around 170°F. “Such severe heat waves are expected to occur only once every decade or every few decades,” [said study author](http://time.com/4087092/climate-change-heat-wave/?iid=sr-link2) Elfatih A. B. Eltahir, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, last year. “But when they happen they will be quite lethal.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/"},"headline":"Middle East Sets New Temperature Record, and It's Blistering","datePublished":"2016-07-22T12:08:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:28:08.003Z","description":"It's the hottest it's ever been outside Death Valley","url":"https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/","keywords":["weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e5cfa7cc0bbf50/69889ec33c1639d70c45e263/heat-wave-kuwait-temperature-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e5cfa7cc0bbf50/69889ec33c1639d70c45e263/heat-wave-kuwait-temperature-record.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"heat wave kuwait temperature record","caption":"heat wave kuwait temperature record","creditText":"David McNew—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4418816/heat-wave-middle-east-temperature-record/","name":"Middle East Sets New Temperature Record, and It's Blistering"}}]}] ```