John Christy, a retired climate scientist from the University of Alabama, has spent decades recording and analysing thermometer readings from weather stations. He knows a thing or two about climate and a whole lot more about temperature measurements.
So it was a surprise to him to hear that the hottest temperature recorded in Newport, Oregon, according to records published by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), was just 94 deg F. This didn’t seem correct to him, a native of the Pacific North West, so he decided to look at the actual hand written recordings of that weather station.