Current Heat Wave

[Harveyg]

They don't call it global cooling do they?

Only when lotus and 7 and other concerned citizens leave their doors open to help cool down the town.

[Mudcrab]

Its very worrying how little water there is now... not just the hot temps.

For the last week every day in my area have been over 40 degrees.. with a high of 43 degrees.

Even with watering the garden the hot sun bakes the ground rock hard and any water evaporates in a few hours... so I have given up watering it at all now as most of it is dead anyway.. despite my massive water bills.

Even if we get rain this year I don't think its going to be anywhere near enough to fill up the reservoirs enough for the next dry season.

This is the first year of many years living here that I have seen a lot of dead rice plants in the fields around our area too.

The officials say the rains will start in the next few days... but I am not going to be too surprised if they don't!

Water at night.

[Mudcrab]

According to Indian weather forecasts the SW monsoon is not expected until mid June so expect the hot spell to last a bit longer unless we get a few more local storms.Also the El Niño index for the Indian Ocean is still high.

El Nino for the Indian Ocean?

Learn something new everyday!

[Mudcrab]

Some people really shouldn't move to the tropics and then complain about the tropical weather.

Do a wiki search for Marble Bar in Western Australia....that will give you some idea of what hot is:

Climate data for Marble Bar, Western Australia Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 49.2
(120.6) 48.3
(118.9) 46.7
(116.1) 45.0
(113) 39.5
(103.1) 35.8
(96.4) 35.0
(95) 37.2
(99) 42.6
(108.7) 46.0
(114.8) 47.2
(117) 48.4
(119.1) 49.2
(120.6)

[Trujillo]

In 1974 they (Phoenix, AZ) had 18 straight days of 110F.

..and I was there.

[elektrified]

43 at my place in Sansai today.

[peterrabbit]

The weather patterns, all around the world, are now so extreme I don't see us returning to any kind of 'recognisable' normal weather in the future. What the new weather patterns here will be, could become really scary and disastrous for the farmers.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

If you take the age of the Earth, and compress it into a one year calendar; the last Ice Age did not end until New Year's Eve at 23:58:38. The 60 year period that Al Gore and Friend's are using to declare Global warming didn't start until 23:59:59:5835....but it worked for Al; as he was able to pay off his 15,000 usd per month electric bill. Go Green!

[carter1882]

It is incredibly hot and in my 34 years in bkk this is the hottest i have ever felt for so long. Torture.

[anto]

43 at my place in Sansai today.

I am in Sansai also ,loving it ;-) (and without a/c ) .Cant really explain why i am not feeling the heat ,with the Thais even struggling .

[Torrens54]

So according to the Government the rainy season will start in about 7-10 days,

nothing to worry about then !

regards Worgeordie

Ah, well nothing to worry about. Seems "someone" Up High has ORDERED the Heavens to produce rain or, or, or....

Maybe the Heavens can be Locked-up for re-education?

[jonw8uk]

Some people really shouldn't move to the tropics and then complain about the tropical weather.

Do a wiki search for Marble Bar in Western Australia....that will give you some idea of what hot is:

Climate data for Marble Bar, Western Australia Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 49.2

(120.6) 48.3

(118.9) 46.7

(116.1) 45.0

(113) 39.5

(103.1) 35.8

(96.4) 35.0

(95) 37.2

(99) 42.6

(108.7) 46.0

(114.8) 47.2

(117) 48.4

(119.1) 49.2

(120.6)

Yep it's hot for sure, though its a desert town with a population of (2006 census) 194 - i.e nobody chooses to live there.

[jobin]

What a bunch of moaners! Please return to sunny Scotland.

[chicowoodduck]

Yup, like two Suns here in BKK....gotta get out of the heat...?

[ujayujay]

According to Indian weather forecasts the SW monsoon is not expected until mid June so expect the hot spell to last a bit longer unless we get a few more local storms.Also the El Niño index for the Indian Ocean is still high.

El Nino for the Indian Ocean?

Learn something new everyday!

El nino 2016

Edited May 12, 2016 by ujayujay

[derator01]

Please stick to the topic and show respect to other members.

[Konini]

A thai told me that it is still getting hotter! Here in BKK it may go from 38 to 41/42 up to end May.

I would really appreciate some official line, because my ACs are struggling and I may go to KL for 10 days.

Eddy

Was in KL last weekend, very pleasant. When the thunder rolled each afternoon, it wasn't just playing with us, it actually rained. Poured. I stood out in it, much to the bemusement of some locals. And while not as hot to begin with, the rain brought the temperature down noticeably. And of course cleaner air, although the pollution doesn't seem to bother me, all of those years of heavy smoking must have left me immune, but my husband suffers quite badly, and he noticed a huge difference after only a couple of days in KL.

This is the first time in my 6 or 7 years here that the heat doesn't seem to go when the sun goes down - it's just like being back in Melbourne during a hot spell with the nights seeming to be as hot as the day, although of course they aren't, it just seems that way because we expect it to be cooler at night so notice it more.. A couple of weeks ago I thought it was just me, my age and my hormones or something and hot flushes, but I can see now that most people are starting to flag. I was just a bit ahead of the pack.

[Konini]

While the heat is horrible at the moment, It's actually the water thing that concerns me more - we know that the heat won't last indefinitely, but the rain is a different story. We lived in Melbourne through a 14 year drought, it was 2 years before the government declared it, so it was officially only 12 years, but it was a real eye-opener for me. Water restrictions, very mild at first and progressively getting stronger as each year passed got to be really scary when you weren't allowed to wash your car any more - you could wash the windows, mirrors and lights and nothing else, only approved car washes which recycled water were allowed to be used for full cleaning of cars. That's when I realised just how much trouble we were in. The government commissioned a desalination plant - of course the drought broke as soon as they broke ground - but this came after years and years of progressively harsher restrictions. We got used to having a bucket in the shower and one in the kitchen to save the cold water that runs before the hot water arrives for watering plants, not having the tap running whilst cleaning our teeth, really thinking about how often you needed to run the washing machine - if your water usage from the meter was too high based on past billing cycles, you could get a visit and a please explain. Many of those habits have stayed with us, and always will.

I know that this is not 'back home' and things are done differently here, but there have been no restrictions even mentioned in town, and back home didn't depend so heavily on the huge amounts of water that is needed for rice paddy's. If the rice crop fails, there will be genuinely hungry people here and in the north east, which I hear is just as desperate for rain. The possible consequences for such a perfect storm with the current political situation are something I don't want to even think about.

Let's all get our wobbly bits out and do the rain dancing, and do our bit to save water wherever we can even though we aren't being ordered to.

[Sparkles]

Today is actually the hottest I've been inside my house this season, it's 6:30 and now the inside temp is 34 degrees, matches the outside air temp.

No I can't remember anything similar here, yes I'm suffering with it all but I'm actually more concerned about the rest of the year and how it might be!

40 c currently in my upstairs study/office at 6.42 pm ,with just a fan .Loving it .

Never ceases to amaze me how insensitive some people are to others plight. There have been 34 deaths already attributed to the heat. 1.000's of farmers are unable to grow any crops and having to go the banks to borrow more money just to put food on the table and send their kids to school. A revolving debt crisi which most will never recover from. There is hardly a waterfall/watercourse that is still carrying water to feed the rivers and in Chiang Dao last week watertankers were delivering to households.Even the ponds at the Caves were totally dry. Mae Rim Lagoon Resort now has no lagoon and the gardens are brown and plants dying ,staff have been told they are not allowed to use water for the gardens.

Some,in their own litle world , may revel in these conditions but if the rainy season ,when it comes, is not above average we will be in the same scenario next dry season except it will be worse. Of course water usage restrictions should be in place but like the crackdown on lighting fires would action ever be taken against those who decided to ignore them? I doubt it.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Sparkles

[SoilSpoil]

My kids are complaining about the slides and seesaws in the playground. They cant use them as they are cooking. Never seen this before.

[anto]

Today is actually the hottest I've been inside my house this season, it's 6:30 and now the inside temp is 34 degrees, matches the outside air temp.

No I can't remember anything similar here, yes I'm suffering with it all but I'm actually more concerned about the rest of the year and how it might be!

40 c currently in my upstairs study/office at 6.42 pm ,with just a fan .Loving it .

Never ceases to amaze me how insensitive some people are to others plight. There have been 34 deaths already attributed to the heat. 1.000's of farmers are unable to grow any crops and having to go the banks to borrow more money just to put food on the table and send their kids to school. A revolving debt crisi which most will never recover from. There is hardly a waterfall/watercourse that is still carrying water to feed the rivers and in Chiang Dao last week watertankers were delivering to households.Even the ponds at the Caves were totally dry. Mae Rim Lagoon Resort now has no lagoon and the gardens are brown and plants dying ,staff have been told they are not allowed to use water for the gardens.

Some,in their own litle world , may revel in these conditions but if the rainy season ,when it comes, is not above average we will be in the same scenario next dry season except it will be worse. Of course water usage restrictions should be in place but like the crackdown on lighting fires would action ever be taken against those who decided to ignore them? I doubt it.

You forgot to mention WW3.Some reckon it has started already ,so no need to worry about drought next year .Maybe you have your head in the sand of the current dry Dam ,and are oblivious to World events .

Edited May 12, 2016 by anto

[WinnieTheKhwai]

A Thai-guy told me this morning that Doi Tao is "dry"....thats unlikely being such a large lake...but if it is...OhOh

I've seen it dry before.

Don't we usually get more rain than we have had so far this year?

Yes, we do.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Article from an actual weather site:

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/extraordinary-heat-wave-sweeps-southeast-asia-and-points-beyond

[cyberfarang]

43 at my place in Sansai today.

Same where I live. 5.45pm and starting to cool down a bit, now 38 that feels like an ice age compared to temperatures this afternoon. We were all huddled in one of our bedrooms with the air con blasting away and praying there wouldn`t be a power cut. I wonder what tomorrow has in store for us?

The water supply is of concern. At this rate who can tell how long supplies will last. I have plastic water storage bins all over the house and had a large concrete storage tank built outdoors with pond pumps flowing the water so it doesn`t stagnate. If the water goes we are good for about 2 months. Remember I forecast this last January when we experienced the coldest temperatures here for many years and since have renewed all my air con units and bought water cooled fan units.

Don`t leave things all to luck, get prepared, sooner is better than later.

[chiang mai]

Yes it's hot now yet my real concern is what does the picture look like for the rest of the year. Earlier reports suggest we may not see rain until early/mid June when the El Nino effect dissipates, that's my first "if and when".

We're told that excessively heavy rainfall follows a strong El Nino, that typically accompanied by storm like weather conditions - there's my "if and when" number two!

It doesn't seem as though a return to normal is on the cards, more probable seems to be an avalanche of adverse weather along with heavy rainfall, or, a continuation of what we see now.

Feast or famine springs to mind but either way, probably not the greatest in prospect. OK so we can all tolerate being battered in order to get the dams refilled but what if, what if things continue as at present, doesn't bear thinking about really.

[cmsally]

Water in town seems OK where we are. Fingers crossed.

But in Hang Dong had to add a piece of pipe onto the existing, as at that level it is starting to clog up. Only another 3m, taking it to just over 20m but never had to do that before.

Things are a drying up !

[chiang mai]

FWIW ground water on the Mae Rim flats is at about 8 metres, compared to 4 metres at the start of the current dry season.

[Konini]

The air actually feels a good bit cooler now. I had the fan pointing at my face at about 3pm, had to turn it off because it was blowing really hot air at me although the ceiling fans seemed to be cooling, maybe it was just because the fan was too close to me.

Anyway, I've got everything open wide and all fans on full blast and the floor ones pointing towards the doors to get the hot air out. The fan pointing at my face now feels quite nice, so it must be cooling down a bit (at last). The 10 day forecast isn't very comforting though.

[ChristianBlessing]

Has anyone seen any report or statistics relative to the current heat wave we are experiencing ? Like has there been before such an extended number of days where the temp cracked 38 / 100 degrees ? If so can you repeat that report.

I'm pushing 30 years here now, and I cannot recall so many consecutive days of such heat levels. Like to hear others input.

G

I am hoping it will go down to 38 degrees soon. Been over 40 degrees for the last 6 weeks in my area.

Phoenix Arizona had 76 days of 100F or more, in 1993. In 1974 they had 18 straight days of 110F. Still the top State in the US for Californians to move to. Apparently many choose Hell over Tax Hell.

I was in Phoenix in 1990 (June 26 I believe) when it hit a record 50c/122f. Hell indeed. Is rather pay the tax man.

[brommers]

Heaven knows where you live Konini but here in Meechok at 19:44 it is 37 Celsius which I would hardly regard as cooler. And on top of the heat we are beset by frequent power and water cuts, four in two weeks. This has to be the worst hot season I have every experienced, and even my Thai friends are becoming weary. But hey there is no water shortage if you watch my near neighbour washing down his paved driveway every morning!