The extreme heat smothering much of Mexico has already killed dozens of people, but the hottest temperatures are yet to come, officials say.
“In the next 10 to 15 days, the country will experience the highest temperatures ever recorded,” researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) said in a statement earlier this week. They called the heat wave “unprecedented.”
According to the Weather Channel, by early next week, temperatures in Veracruz are expected to soar to 37 C, Tabasco will be 40 C and Mexicali will reach temperatures of 40.5 C.
Temperatures in the capital, Mexico City, could reach a record 35 C in the next two weeks, said Jorge Zavala, director of UNAM’s Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change.
Most of the metropolitan area’s 21 million residents — accustomed to more temperate weather — lack air conditioning. Earlier this month, the capital was one of at least 10 cities in Mexico that registered their hottest day on record.