Baghdad soars to 125 blistering degrees, its highest temperature on record [View all]

[steve2470]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/29/baghdad-iraq-heat-record/

Record high temperatures have been plaguing the Middle East, the mercury soaring to extreme levels during a blistering and unforgiving heat wave. Baghdad surged to its highest temperature ever recorded Tuesday.

Tuesday’s preliminary high of 125.2 degrees (51.8 Celsius) in Iraq’s capital city shatters its previous record of 123.8 degrees set on July 30, 2015 for any day of the year.

On Wednesday, Baghdad followed up with a temperature of 124 degrees, its second highest temperature on record. On Monday, it had reached 123 degrees.

The crippling heat forced many residents indoors, and street sellers had to seek whatever shade they could find. With the state electricity grid failing, many households were relying on generators to power fridges, fans or air conditioning units, the machines adding a guttural hum to the city’s already-noisy streets.