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On July 10, 1913, Furnace Creek, California, was the hottest place in the history of the world. That day, the temperature in the barely-habitable town in Death Valley hit a ridiculous 134 degrees. The record wasn't without controversy; until 2010, scientists thought the title was stolen by an Egyptian town nine years later.

Now that record is threatened — by modern-day Furnace Creek. As Climate Central reported on Thursday, there is a weather system "stuck" over parts of the U.S. and Canada that's bringing unusually hot temperatures to the Southwest. Right now, the forecast for the day is 126 degrees, a bit shy of the record (and only 32 degrees from what's needed to fry an egg). Over the weekend, though, those projected highs will increase — and, as Smithsonian notes, it could spike higher in places.

To that end, we've made this little tool. Every five seconds, it checks the temperature in Furnace Creek (or, more specifically, nearby Stovepipe Wells). If and when the temperature is broken, you can find out first here.

This probably goes without saying but, if you're viewing this page from Furnace Creek — or Las Vegas or Phoenix or any of the other cities that will spend the next three days sweltering — drink lots of fluids.

Photo: Construction workers in Arizona brave the heat. (AP)

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.