Earth’s Hot Spots This Week: The 10 Hottest Places in the World

By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather · Saturday, November 14, 2026 · Week of November 7-13, 2026

At a glance

The hottest airport reading of the week was 111.7°F (44.3°C) at Telfer, Western Australia, on Sunday, November 8.

• Where the heat sat: northern Australia, northern Argentina, the western Sahel, and the dry interior of South Africa and Namibia.
• Official check: the Telfer figure, and three other Australian entries, come from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Daily Weather Observations.
• Late surge in Argentina: Santiago del Estero reached 109.4°F (43°C) on Friday, November 13, the hottest reading outside Australia.
• Cut-off: nine places tied at 105.8°F (41°C), so the list runs to 15 entries. Twelve more places peaked one degree Celsius lower.
• Absent: the Middle East and South Asia. The hottest Gulf airport on the mid-week scan was Sohar, Oman, at 96.8°F (36°C).

National weather services issue heat warnings for their own countries; check them before travel or outdoor work.

The 10 hottest places

Each airport appears once, at its highest daily maximum from November 7 to 13. Figures marked * are official Bureau of Meteorology values to a tenth of a degree; the rest are whole-degree airport reports. A nine-way tie at rank 7 takes the list to 15 entries.

Just missing at 104.0°F (40°C): Upington and Kimberley (South Africa), Keetmanshoop (Namibia), Lusaka (Zambia), Matam, Linguère and Tambacounda (Senegal), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Tahoua (Niger), N’Djamena (Chad) and Tucumán (Argentina).

Data: Iowa Environmental Mesonet daily airport summaries (Santiago del Estero shown; other stations use the same query) and Bureau of Meteorology Daily Weather Observations for Telfer, Kununurra, Mount Isa and Newman.

Where the heat was

Northern Australia. The heat peaked early in the Pilbara and eased sharply mid-week. Telfer recorded 43.3°C or more from November 7 to 9, then 25.3°C on November 11; Newman fell to 25.2°C the same day. Kununurra stayed between 38.1°C and 42.2°C all week. In Queensland, ABC News reported that Weipa had its hottest November day on record, 39.9°C (103.8°F), on November 10, during a run of 39 straight days above 36°C.

Northern Argentina. The heat built through the week and peaked on Friday. Santiago del Estero climbed from 82.4°F (28°C) on November 7 to its weekly high on November 13. Diario Panorama reported a national weather service maximum of 42.8°C there that day. El Liberal reported storms and a forecast high of 29°C for Saturday, November 14.

Western Sahel. Senegal’s interior airports held steady, reporting 96.8°F (36°C) or more on every day, mostly 100°F or above. Dag Dag, Mali, stayed between 102.2°F and 105.8°F all week. Further west and east, Nouakchott and Diffa cooled to 93.2°F (34°C) and 89.6°F (32°C) by November 13.

South Africa and Namibia. The interior warmed fast after lower readings at the weekend. Upington, Kimberley and Keetmanshoop rose from the low 80s °F on November 7 to 104.0°F (40°C) on November 10 or 11. The Mail & Guardian reported a South African Weather Service heatwave warning running to November 13.

What to watch next week

• Cape York and the Gulf Country, Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology issues heatwave warnings here. Its forecaster David Crock told ABC News the “heatwave signal eases off a bit towards the latter half of next week.”
• Northern Argentina. The Servicio Meteorológico Nacional had heat alerts for eastern Jujuy and northern Salta on November 14, as reported by La Gaceta. El Liberal reported highs of 30°C on Sunday and 34°C on Monday for Santiago del Estero.
• South Africa’s interior. The South African Weather Service issues heatwave warnings for the Northern Cape, Free State and North West, the areas covered by last week’s warning.

About this list

The list ranks daily maximum temperatures from airport weather reports, compiled by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, for Saturday, November 7, to Friday, November 13, 2026 (UTC dates). Hourly airport reports can miss the true peak between observations and are rounded to whole degrees Celsius. Places without airport reports, such as Marble Bar, are not covered. The Mesonet feed had gaps this week for many Australian, Nigerien, Malian, Chadian, Bolivian and Paraguayan airports, so official Bureau of Meteorology values for airport stations replace or fill Australian figures where available. Partial-day Australian values for November 8 in the Mesonet feed were left out.

Glossary

• METAR: the routine weather report an airport issues, usually every hour.
• Daily maximum: the highest temperature recorded at a station during the day.
• Synoptic station: a weather station reporting at fixed times under World Meteorological Organization rules.
• Heatwave warning: an alert a national weather service issues when several hot days and nights are expected.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Earthweek give a different figure for Telfer? Earthweek’s column for the week ending November 13 lists 110°F (43°C) at Telfer as the week’s hottest reading. It draws on World Meteorological Organization synoptic reports, sent at fixed hours and rounded. This list uses the Bureau of Meteorology’s full-day maximum to a tenth of a degree.

Was Marble Bar as hot as Telfer? Yes. The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 44.3°C at Marble Bar on November 8, matching Telfer. It is left out because it has no airport report.

Why is Fitzroy Crossing’s 47.1°C not here? ABC News reported that November record on the Wednesday before this review week, so it falls outside the period. Telfer’s reading is the top figure for November 7 to 13.

Could a hotter place be missing? Possibly. Several hot airports, including Mariscal Estigarribia in Paraguay and N’Djamena in Chad, sent few or no reports after November 7 or 8. Their highs for the rest of the week are unknown.

Sources

• Iowa Environmental Mesonet, daily airport summaries API (station-month and network-date queries for all stations named)
• Bureau of Meteorology, Telfer Daily Weather Observations, November 2026
• Bureau of Meteorology, Kununurra Daily Weather Observations
• Bureau of Meteorology, Mount Isa Daily Weather Observations
• Bureau of Meteorology, Newman Daily Weather Observations
• Bureau of Meteorology, Weipa Daily Weather Observations
• Bureau of Meteorology, Marble Bar Daily Weather Observations
• Earthweek, Week Ending November 13, 2026
• ABC News: Cape York town of Weipa breaks weather records in prolonged heatwave
• ABC News: Thousands without power and landscapes transformed as storms sweep across WA
• Diario Panorama: Calor insoportable en Santiago del Estero
• El Liberal: Alivio en Santiago del Estero
• La Gaceta: Alerta por calor extremo en el norte argentino
• Mail & Guardian: Climate change makes November heat five times more likely in parts of South Africa