On Friday 31 July an incredible temperature phenomena occurred at the Iranian port city of Bandar E Mahshahr. The city, home to 109,000 residents experienced a temperature phenomena in which:-
The air temperature reached 46C or 115F.
Dew point was 32C or 90F.
These are official readings at the weather station.
This gave an apparent temperature of 165F or 73 Celsius. The extreme heat and humidity pushed the apparent temperature to this level.
The area is currently under a high pressure cell. Winds blowing from the south off the warm waters of the Persian Gulf exacerbated the dangerous heat conditions. Similar conditions have occurred in the past including an incidence of an apparent temperature of 81C being observed in Dharain on July 8 2003.
Heatwave conditions will prevail in the area for several more days and there are forecasts of 50C temperatures being made for Baghdad during the period 3 to the 9 August 2015. Forecast maximum temperatures for Baghdad include:-
3/8 48C
4/8 50C.
5/8 50C.
6/8 49C.
7/8 50C.
8/8 50C.
9/8 47C.
For the city of Banda E Mahshahr (Iran) where the incredible apparent temperature was recorded, the following temperature forecasts are being made:-
3/8 46C with 30C dew points.
4/8 44C.
5/8 43C.
6/8 45C.
7/8 46C.
8/8 48C.
9/8 46C.
The sort of temperatures are being repeated elsewhere across the desert area of both countries. In addition, minimum overnight temperatures of 32C to 34C are being forecast for Bandar E Mahshahr creating very oppressive conditions and little relief day and night.
This is extreme heat and local authorities have issued heat warnings including the declaration of a public holiday for 4 days to ease the strain on locals.
There are no detailed weather maps available. The MODIS (Worldview) plot acquired from NASA 3 August is a map showing the location of Bandar E Mahshahr where this occurred. The city is located south east of Ahvaz on the Persian Gulf.
Given its location relative to the gulf and with such high temperatures, similar conditions to that of Friday could occur again during this heatwave.
Note (Sourced from Accuweather data 3/8/15 for Bandar E Mahshahr and Baghdad).