India records its hottest temperature ever: 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit
India just set a new national record heat benchmark when the small city of Phalodi, in northwest India, recorded a high temperature of a whopping 51 degrees Celsius, or 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit, on Thursday.
The data, recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), shows that the high temperature eclipsed the previous national high temperature of 50.6 degrees Celsius, which was set way back in 1886.
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According to the Washington Post, the new record was set 125 miles away from the previous record-holder, which was the village of Pachpadra.
The all-time record comes during a stifling heat wave that has enveloped much of the country following a series of deadly heat waves earlier this spring that struck India, Thailand, Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The IMD has issued warnings for "severe heat wave" conditions across large parts of India through the weekend.
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India is known for its stifling heat during the months of April and May, when the subcontinent heats up ahead of the summer monsoon.
But the temperatures reached this year have been downright dangerous, and are thought to be a contributor to hundreds, if not thousands, of premature deaths.
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The heat wave comes as sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean have eclipsed all-time record values, and as the globe has smashed temperature records as if it were going out of style.
On Wednesday, for example, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that the 12 months ending in April 2016 were the most unusually warm 12-straight months in the agency's 137 years of temperature data.
According to NASA, it is almost certain that 2016 will be the planet's warmest year, beating 2015.
According to Chris Burt, a weather historian at Weather Underground, Cambodia and Laos each set all-time record highs for any day of the year during the month of April.
India's record will now join them among the many heat records shattered during 2016 so far, with more still to come.
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
