At least seven countries break monthly records as heat wave hits Asia

Desdemona Despair

By Andrew Freedman
3 April 2018

(Mashable) – It may be unusually cold in the eastern U.S. right now, but in parts of Asia, dangerous, scorching heat has been breaking records.

At least seven countries set monthly high temperature records at the end of March, according to national weather authorities and tracking by Etienne Kapikian, a meteorologist with MeteoFrance, along with climatologist Maximiliano Herrera.

According to the Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang blog, the worst of the heat was parked on top of Pakistan, which saw its hottest weather for so early in the season. On 30 March 2018, the temperature in Nawabshah, in Sindh Province, hit 45.5 degrees Celsius, or 113.9 degrees Fahrenheit. This beat the old monthly record of 45 degrees Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, which was set in March of 1991.

Moenjo Daro, southwest of Nawabshah, also saw a temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius the next day. That is noteworthy since that community holds the all-time high temperature record for the country, of 128.3 degrees Fahrenheit, set in 2010.

Iraq also experienced record heat in late March, with the temperature in Nasiriyah soaring to 43.8 degrees Celsius, or 110.8 degrees Fahrenheit, on March 29. This beat the old record of 42.4 degrees Celsius, or 108.3 degrees Fahrenheit, in 2010. Nasiriyah is located in southeastern Iraq, to the northwest of Basra.

Qatar also likely set a monthly temperature record on March 30, when the temperature soared to 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, at Abu Samrah, about 55 miles from Doha. This beat the old monthly high temperature record of 39 degrees Celsius, or 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit, which was set at the international airport near Doha, in 1998.

Other monthly records also appear to have fallen in Turkmenistan (40.2 degrees Celsius, or 104.4 degrees Fahrenheit), Uzbekistan (37.2 degrees Celsius, or 99 degrees Fahrenheit), Tajikistan (35.2 degrees Celsius, or 95.5 degrees Fahrenheit), and the United Arab Emirates (43.1 degrees Celsius, or 109.6 degrees Fahrenheit).  [more]

At least 7 countries break monthly records as heat wave hits Asia