Weather Report for May 2nd/3rd, 2025. Unseasonal Heat in Central Continental Europe (30°C in Austria and Hungary), High Temps along Mid-Atlantic US Seaboard (31°C in Virginia and Maryland), Middle East Heatwave persisting (47°C in Saudi Arabia)

Europe: High Temperatures in Central Continental Europe continue to persist as temperatures reached 30°C in parts of Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia, exceedingly rare for early May and an unofficial new record high for Vienna on this date.

Certain parts of Central Europe experienced temperatures in excess of 12°C above normal. Along with the heat came thunderstorms across northern France, southern Germany, and southern Poland.

High temperatures at higher altitudes stretched from eastern Spain to western Ukraine, down south to Sicily and Tunisia.

In North America, extremely high temperatures for the season occurred in Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware and northern Virginia. Temperatures reached 31°C in Richmond, VA, Norfolk, VA and Baltimore, MD.

Some respite for these mid-Atlantic communities will come in the form of rain and a front of cooler upper air which is already spreading across the eastern Midwest, Northeast and American South, stretching from Louisiana to upstate New York.

Asia, Middle East and Australia: In the Middle East, the historic heat wave continues with high temperatures reaching almost 48°C in Saudi Arabia (https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1918717670016373186/photo/1).

An astonishing minimum temperature of 33.5°C was observed in Basra, Iraq. The heaviest rainfall totals in Asia were concentrated along the equator in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines while the entirety of Australia remained relatively dry.

The rainy season in the Philippines, called Habagat, begins in May and stretches into October.

Africa: Higher than normal temperatures in the Western Sahara contrasted with lower temperatures in the Eastern Sahara. Temperature in north-central Africa reached as high as 43°C in Niger and Chad.

Below the equator, the southern hemisphere autumn brought temperatures 10-12°C below normal in South Africa, with freezing temperatures as low as -3.3°C.

Precipitation was concentrated along the south-central region of the continent in the Congo, Guinea and Gambon stretching to Malawi and Mozambique.

South America: Argentina and Uruguay experienced temperatures in excess of 10°C above normal in parts. Massive rainfall spread across the northern half of the continent, with 24-hour total exceeding 100 mm in parts of Colombia, exacerbated by high temperatures at altitude.

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