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I believe it's measured in the shade only so it's a true measure of the air temperature and isn't affected by the direct heat transfer from the sunlight. (eg https://www.forbes.com/sites/dennismersereau/2021/06/30/the-... )

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That's my understanding too. In fact, the hottest surface temperature recorded on Earth is much higher than the official temperature record because a surface gathers heat not only from air convection/conduction but direct radiation as well.

> Temperatures measured directly on the ground may exceed air temperatures by 30 to 50 °C (54 to 90 °F).[6] The highest natural ground surface temperature ever recorded may have been an alleged reading of 93.9 °C (201.0 °F) at Furnace Creek, California, United States, on 15 July 1972.[7] In 2011, a ground temperature of 84 °C (183.2 °F) was recorded in Port Sudan, Sudan. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weather_records#Measur...

Back when I was a kid, the Australian Open in Melbourne, already in summer, was plagued by periods where they stopped play due to heat.

Filling the void and dead air time, commentators resorted to demos like "frying an egg on center court" to show just how hot it was.

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