Forecasts indicate that this summer will be the hottest ever recorded. In this context, an extremely hot wave, reaching up to 50 degrees Celsius, will strike Iraq in the coming days. Meteorologists at the Arab Weather Center have observed indicators of an unprecedented heat wave affecting Iraq in the last days of May. This is due to the intensification of the Arab high-pressure system, which fuels the phenomenon known as the thermal dome, accompanied by a mass of air that has a high surface warming effect that raises temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius, particularly in the southern regions.
For the first time this year, Iraq is expected to be impacted by the thermal dome phenomenon, which will trigger a major and noticeable rise in temperatures. In the capital Baghdad, temperatures are anticipated to be between 44 and 46 degrees Celsius, while in southern areas, such as Al-Kut and Basra and their suburbs, temperatures will reach between 48 and 49 degrees Celsius, nearing 50 degrees Celsius.
The thermal dome is a meteorological phenomenon that occurs due to a high-pressure area in the upper layers of the atmosphere that heats the air in the lower layers as a result of a dynamic process called heating under pressure. With air pressure in a specific area influenced by high pressure in the upper atmospheric layers, a thermal dome is formed. This creates a hot surface air mass that varies in density depending on the area, intensity of the high-pressure system, and the time of the year when it develops.
