Thailand notches highest temperature on record as 'monster' heat wave roasts Southeast Asia
An extreme and sprawling heat wave has enveloped southeastern Asia since last week, and numerous all-time record high temperatures have fallen, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.
About 600 others became sick from heatstroke during a national event in Mumbai.
A multiweek heat wave impacting southeastern Asia has shattered all-time records, prompted school closures and killed at least 13 people, according to officials.
Temperatures in parts of Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have been regularly exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) this month. Meanwhile, Thailand set an all-time record high for any time of year.
Some cooler air will provide some relief from the brutal heat into next week due to an expected change in the weather pattern, according to AccuWeather forecasters.
Temperature records smashed, daily life impacted
In southeastern Asia, April and May are typically the warmest months of the year before the annual monsoon begins, but the magnitude and extent of the current heat wave are unprecedented in the record books.
Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera dubbed the warm spell as a "monster Asian heat wave like none before" and said that "records are falling all over."
"This past Friday (April 14), the cities of Tak and Phetchabum in Thailand set all-time records," said AccuWeather Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls.
In Tak, the mercury rose to 114 degrees Fahrenheit (45.4 degrees Celsius), while Phetchabum topped out at 110 F (43.5 C). The high temperature in Tak was the highest temperature ever recorded anywhere in the country, beating the old record of 112 F (44.6 C) set in Mae Hong Son province in 2016.
Incredibly, an all-time temperature record for any time of year was set three days in a row in Phong Sa Ly, Laos, according to Herrera, with the mercury reaching 94 F (34.5 C) on April 20. That same day, Herrera also reports that Bangkok, Thailand, topped out at 104 F (40 C), setting a record for April.
Hundreds of new all-time April temperature records were set in southeastern China on April 17. Most notably, in Yunhe County, the temperature topped out at 101 F (38.2 C), establishing a new monthly record. Meanwhile, the city of Hangzhou reached 95 F (35 C) for the first time ever in April, according to Nicholls.
On Tuesday, a new high watermark in the heat wave was reached in China, when Yunnan reached 107 F (41.9 C), according to a tweet sent by Herrera.
In Bangladesh, the April record high was tied when the temperature in Ishurdi reached 109 F (43 C) on April 17.
While the heat was not as intense, two locations in Japan also secured their warmest April days on record on April 19, when Shimabara reached 84 F (28.8 C) and Kahoku topped out at 88 F (30.9 C), according to NHK World.
The extreme heat arrived first in India last week, and temperatures were still reaching well into triple-digit territory there this week.
"New Delhi reached the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark for the first time back on April 13," said Nicholls. "Temperatures elsewhere have been regularly exceeding 110 degrees."
It was in India where fatalities linked to the heat were reported. According to CNN, 13 people died of heat stroke, and 50 to 60 others were hospitalized after attending an outdoor ceremony in the city of Navi Mumbai, located in the western state of Maharashtra on Sunday.
Schools without air conditioning were closed across several states in India earlier this week, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told The Guardian. Banerjee also said that children were experiencing health problems from the heat, including headaches.
People rest under the shade of trees to beat the intense heat in Lucknow in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
What caused the heat, and what's ahead?
A change in the weather pattern last week across Asia triggered the heat wave.
"The heat was caused by a building, large ridge of high pressure that reached from the Bay of Bengal to the Philippine Sea," Nicholls said.
More broadly speaking, the scale of the heat wave bears the hallmarks of climate change, as human-induced warming is making heat waves in the region last longer at higher intensities, according to a 2021 study in the Journal Science China.
In spring 2022, much of Pakistan and India roasted under an extreme heat wave with temperatures reaching as high as 122 F in India at one point. Climate scientists later said that heat wave was made 30 times more likely by climate change.
Moving forward, the record-setting heat will last a little longer in the short term, but some relief is forecast to arrive by this weekend.
"It will remain hot in southeastern China and Yangtze Valley through Thursday, while northern China will begin to cool," according to Nicholls. "Cooler weather will then spread over the rest of the country and other parts of Southeast Asia on Friday and into the weekend."
While the region as a whole will be cooler next week, some above-normal warmth will return to southeastern Asia by late next week or next weekend, according to AccuWeather forecasters.
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