The week's hottest temperature was 121.0 degrees Fahrenheit (49.4 degrees Celsius) at Death Valley, California.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 119.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 84.1 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Vostok Antarctic research station.

Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.