Weather Report for May 14th, 2025. Extreme Heat Across the Northern Hemisphere. North Africa with 47.2°C in Algeria and 47°C in Chad. Central Asia with 45.6°C in Turkmenistan and 43°C in Uzbekistan.

We are only in mid-May, and temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere are already reaching scathingly torrid levels of severe heat. In North Africa, a mass of hot air with temperatures 12-16°C above normal for the time is slowly moving from west to east. This system may continue to set record temperatures for May, and its presence so early in the season does not bode well for when Northern Hemisphere summer hits just weeks from now. From the animation below, we can see where the Global Forecast System expects high temperatures to stay and where they will emerge. While Algeria, Niger and Chad are where the hottest temperatures in North Africa are seen now, by the weekend the hottest temperatures may be seen further east in Libya, Egypt and Sudan.

In Central Asia, massive heat envelops the entire region stretching from Iran all the way to the northern border of Kazakhstan with Russia. Unprecedented temperatures well above 40°C in May come as a complete shock considering the region is expected to continue heating up as summer approaches. Temperature may be up to 18°C above normal by Thursday in central Kazakhstan. Records highs typical for June may yet be set in the middle of May.

The heatwave will not move out of the region until late this coming weekend, at which point it will already be deep into Northern China, having the potential to set further records there. At a pressure level of 850 hPa, which is typically about 1,500 meters above sea level, you can see in the animation the massive pocket of extremely hot air slowly moving east from Central Asia into East Asia.

Asia and North Africa are not the only places in the Northern Hemisphere seeing unseasonably hot weather. In southern Canada, Winnipeg reached a May 13th record not seen since 1958, hitting 35.6°C and crushing the old record of 32.8°C. Other parts of southern Manitoba saw record temperatures as well (https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/winnipeg-breaks-67-year-old-heat-record/#:~:text=Winnipeg%20was%20not%20far%20off,32.8%20C%20set%20in%201958.). The heat is not expected to last long, however, as a cold front will make its way through the region by the weekend.

Iceland is experiencing unseasonably high temperatures, not uncomfortably so, but still several degrees above normal for May. Temperatures are reaching and breaching 20°C, particularly in the north of the country. These are temperatures that Iceland typically experiences sporadically at the peak of summer, not the peak of spring. Across the country, typical highs experienced in mid-May are around 10-12°C. Temperatures will reach 18°C in Reykjavik, only about 2°C away from the May record of 20.6°C. Temperatures could reach up to 24°C in the northeastern part of Iceland on Thursday, May 15th.