The extreme heat smothering much of Mexico has┬аalready killed dozens of people, but the hottest temperatures are yet to come, officials say.
“In the next 10 to 15 days, the country will experience the highest temperatures ever recorded,” researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said in a statement earlier this week. They called the heat wave “unprecedented.”
According to the Weather Channel,┬аby early next week, temperatures in┬аVeracruz are expected to soar to 37 C,┬аTabasco will be 40 C┬аand Mexicali will reach temperatures of 40.5 C.
Temperatures in the capital, Mexico City,┬аcould reach a record 35 C┬аin the next two weeks, said Jorge Zavala, director of UNAM’s Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change.
Most of the metropolitan area’s 21 million residents тАФ accustomed to more temperate weather тАФ lack air conditioning. Earlier this month, the capital was one of at least 10 cities in Mexico that registered their hottest day on record.
Mexico┬аhas been reeling from a high-pressure weather phenomenon known as a “heat┬аdome,” which has trapped hot air over much of the country, creating record-breaking temperatures that have surpassed 45 C in some places.
Heat-related causes killed 22 people between May 12 and 21, according to preliminary figures shared by┬аMexico’s health ministry. The 10-day period overlapped with the second and third┬аheat┬аwaves out of five forecast for March to July by the country’s top weather agencies. The third┬аheat┬аwave is ongoing.
The new deaths bring the toll from the extreme temperatures to 48 since the hot season began on March 17, mostly due to┬аheat┬аstroke and some to dehydration. At the same point in┬аMexico’s hot seasons of 2022 and 2023, the health ministry had reported just two and three┬аheat-related deaths, respectively.
Health ministry data also shows hundreds more people have survived┬аheat┬аstroke, sunburn, dehydration and other┬аheat-related conditions.
Sweltering┬аheat┬аhas exacerbated a nationwide drought and┬аstrained┬аMexico’s power grid, with monkeys┬аdropping dead from trees due to suspected dehydration.
The U.S. national weather agency, NOAA, is forecasting an active hurricane season thanks to record-breaking ocean temperatures, which are likely to result in stronger storms тАФ and more of them. Canadian officials also say Atlantic Canada will see above-average hurricane activity.
