--- 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Middle East Sets New Temperature Record, and It's Blistering  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"}}]}] ```