Iraq Hit by Heatwave as Temperatures Soar to 120 Degrees Fahrenheit

Wow, ATS! It's getting hot in Iraq. 120 degrees today and set to rise to 124 by Thursday. The record is 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) and was set in 1913. There are higher unconfirmed temps:

Highest temperatures ever recorded[edit] A world map showing areas with Köppen BWh (hot desert climate). The temperatures in these regions have the potential to exceed 50 °C (122 °F) during the hottest seasons. There are reports of temperatures higher than the listed world record of 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) during phenomena known as heat bursts, including a report of 87 °C (189 °F) in Abadan, Iran in June 1967. There are also reports made by satellite analysis, including one of 66.8 °C (152.2 °F) measured in the Flaming Mountains of China in 2008.[8] These temperatures have never been confirmed, and are not recognized as world records.[9] The former highest official temperature on Earth, held for 90 years by ‘Aziziya, Libya, was de-certified by the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) in January 2012 as the record for the world's highest surface temperature. (This temperature of 58 °C (136 °F), registered on 13 September 1922, is currently considered to have been a recorder's error.[10])

The Iraqi capital was the hottest city in the world Wednesday, sweltering under temperatures of around 120 degrees. This was set to rise further to 124 degrees Thursday. By comparison, the only place in America regularly hit that hard is Death Valley, California, and most people wouldn't want to spend too long there. The temperature has become so extreme that Iraqis have been given the day off work Wednesday and Thursday. For Baghdad residents like shopkeeper Basheer Hamza, 43, there's little hope of escape. "When I entered into my shop in the morning I felt like I was entering a sauna," he said. "There was no electricity. I had to wait for the neighborhood generator to turn on the fan." Hamza's story is a common one. Iraq's infrastructure has struggled to cope with demand since before the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

So, things are heating up in this part of the world but it's not the record...........YET. I think we are due to break the world heat record soon. What says ATS?

www.nbcnews.com...

a reply to: lostbook

I've spent a few summers out there.
Its not uncommon for it to be 120 in July in Iraq.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: lostbook

I've spent a few summers out there.
Its not uncommon for it to be 120 in July in Iraq.

I've never been there but I grew up in Phoenix, Az. I remember temps of 118 and 122. Not sure if it was in the same summer or not.

a reply to: lostbook


I've spent time in Iraq. 120 degrees sounds about normal for this time of year.

The heat thats hitting Iraq is US bombs.

Holy s***, it's really hot in the desert in the summer? Stop the presses!

originally posted by: lostbook

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: lostbook

I've spent a few summers out there.
Its not uncommon for it to be 120 in July in Iraq.

I've never been there but I grew up in Phoenix, Az. I remember temps of 118 and 122. Not sure if it was in the same summer or not.

I lived there a ouple years as a child. It's a dry heat, at least.

originally posted by: TheBulk
Holy s***, it's really hot in the desert in the summer? Stop the presses!

Not really that hot, normally. It's been the last couple years and the heat index is just incredible. This is sort of new.

a reply to: lostbook

Yes, that is incredible heat. And it will be the length of time it lasts as well that makes it bad.

In the US, I will be in the 'heat dome', by Friday, noted in the news. That kind of heat will not be a good thing for inner cities coupled with current problems.

Is interesting that lately we are getting information of hot temperatures around the world, but the truth is like is been posted the desert areas of the middle east are of the most extreme weather.

Their clima is dry and warm but humidity is low, but once in while they get a burst of humidity that makes the warm temperatures soar into dangerous hot weather.

Still the people in the middle east knows how to cope with this extremes as they have lived in this conditions all their lives.

Their hottest months is actually the July and august.

a reply to: marg6043

It is hot, in the desert. But the last couple of years, it has caused more deaths. Again, I think it is the length of time of the sustained temperature.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: lostbook

I've spent a few summers out there.
Its not uncommon for it to be 120 in July in Iraq.

But when you get to 124 and over, it feels like more than a 4 degree rise. The deaths multiply.

a reply to: reldra

Iraq lost its infrastructure during the war, as of today the people in Iraq do not have their basic needs, US tax payer spend billions of dollars on some of their basic needs and air conditioning is only for the troops working In Iraq.

Before the war people in the cities enjoyed the luxury of cooling their homes and workplaces.

Now they have to deal with whatever they have, yes they are dying from heat, lack of clean water and diseases and is been years since the Iraqi war.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: lostbook

Yes, that is incredible heat. And it will be the length of time it lasts as well that makes it bad.

In the US, I will be in the 'heat dome', by Friday, noted in the news. That kind of heat will not be a good thing for inner cities coupled with current problems.

I'm in the heat dome starting tomorrow.

The heat definately doesn't do nice things to senior citizens. I can't imagine an old person in 120+ degrees with no AC or fans.

These videos are from Saudi Arabia

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti
Haaha that little lizard b lined for that shadow. That was awesome!

Sounds like life in Northern California. Reaches 115 here pretty easily and can reach up to the record of 121.

a reply to: lostbook

those are pretty normal there....been over 110 in arizona,over 85 in prudoe bay alaska...so?

originally posted by: reldra

originally posted by: lostbook

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: lostbook

I've spent a few summers out there.
Its not uncommon for it to be 120 in July in Iraq.

I've never been there but I grew up in Phoenix, Az. I remember temps of 118 and 122. Not sure if it was in the same summer or not.

I lived there a ouple years as a child. It's a dry heat, at least.

Yes, it's dry heat but hey, hot is hot....