WASHINGTON- Searing spring heat ripped across parts of Asia in the lastdays of March, and we now know many of the extraordinarily hightemperatures were indeed records for the month in at least seven countries.
The most incredible record was Pakistan’s, where it’s never been so hotthis early in the season. The late-march heat wave was expected to severelyaffect Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province of Sindh.
Temperatures rose well above average in the city, but the hottest weatherwas measured to the northeast. The temperature soared to 113.9 degrees inthe city of Nawabshah in Sindh on March 30. The next day, Moenjo Daro, alsoin Sindh, reached the same temperature. Moenjo Daro currently holdsPakistan’s all-time hottest temperature record, 128.3 degrees in May 2010.
When winds shifted to come out of the southwest, it pushed temperatures innorthern India well above average. Delhi soared to 99 degrees last week,which local forecasters said was the hottest so far this season.
In Iraq, the high temperature was 110.8 degrees on March 29, which blastedpast the former record 108.3 degrees set in 2010.
At least seven countries set new March hot temperature records late lastweek.
*Likely March records set on March 29-31*
Pakistan – 113.9 degrees, (old record 128.3 degrees in 2010)
Iraq – 110.8 degrees (old record 108.3 degrees in 2010)
Qatar – 104 degrees (old record 102.2 degrees in 1998)
Turkmenistan – 104.4 degrees (old record 102.4 degrees in 2010)
Uzbekistan – 99 degrees (old record 97.5 degrees in 2000)
Tajikistan – 95.5 degrees (old record 92 degrees in 1971)
The World Meteorological Organization does not track monthly records, butthey do investigate and confirm more significant records, like continentalhigh and low temperatures.
Even so, Randall Cerveny, the WMO’s chief rapporteur of weather and climateextremes, says he will be watching this region carefully in the next fewmonths.
“The recent huge North African and European dust storms are indicative inpart of how hot and dry some parts of North Africa and the Middle East havealready become,” Cerveny told The Washington Post. “We will definitely bekeeping an eye on those areas for potential record-breaking continental orperhaps even global temperatures as we move into summer.”
At the very least, these new records are a reminder that – by the laws ofthermodynamics – when one part of the world is exceptionally cool, anotherpart must be exceptionally hot. Cerveny says these pronounced variationssuggest the weather pattern will remain interesting for potential all-timerecords.
As parts of Asia roast in triple-digit springtime heat, the eastern U.S. isin a very cold pattern. The month of March was colder than February acrossmuch of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. In the first full weekend of April,temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees below normal from the Upper Midwestto the Southeast. A chance of snow remains in the forecast during the firstdays of April, despite longer daylight hours and higher sun angle.Washington Post