Highest and Lowest Temperatures Recorded in the Sahara Desert

Highest Reliably Recorded: 56.7°C (134°F) at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, USA (1913) — though Death Valley is in the Mojave, not Sahara.

For the Sahara proper, the highest verified is 51.3°C (124.3°F) at Ouargla, Algeria (July 2018). The often-cited 58°C (136°F) at Al 'Aziziyah, Libya (1922) was invalidated by WMO in 2012 due to measurement errors.

Lowest Recorded: −11°C (12°F) at Ifrane, Morocco (Atlas Mountains, 1,665 m) — technically High Atlas, not lowland Sahara. In the low desert, winter nights can drop to 0–5°C (32–41°F); frost occurs. The −18°C figure cited in some sources lacks a verified WMO station record.

Extreme Diurnal Range: 20–30°C swings are common due to dry air, no cloud cover, low heat capacity of sand.