Thursday, August 23, 2012

Morocco's Heat Wave ~ Is The End Is In Sight?


Birds cooling off
During the fasting month of Ramadan, Morocco experienced some extreme heat wave conditions with temperatures reaching up to 48 degrees Celsius. Of the major centres, Fez and Marrakesh both bore the brunt of the heat. In marked contrast, the coastal cities of Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca only suffered highs in the low 30s.
A beach near Rabat - a good place to beat the heat

Probably the only people who enjoyed the heat wave are the manufacturers of bottled water. According to one local shopkeeper in Fez, he couldn't keep bottles in his refrigerator long enough to get really cold. 'Every time I filled it up, more people would ask for bottles," he said.


So, when will the heat wave end?


Mohamed Belouchi
The spokesman for the National Directorate of Meteorology, Mr Mohamed Belouchi, predicts that the weather will improve, with a drop in temperatures starting on Friday (tomorrow). He says that the normal temperatures for this time of year should become the norm again soon.

"The heat wave that knows Morocco for more than a week will continue tomorrow, Thursday, but on Friday there will be cuts that will be progressive on until early next week when they will return to the normal the temperatures of the season," Mohamed Belouchi said yesterday.

However, when you visit different weather forecasting websites, there are variations in what they predict. This is particularly true of the minimum temperatures predicted. 

The BBC weather forecast with lower minimums
The Weather Channel - getting to sleep at night might soon be possible!

The forecast below from Weather forecast.com,  says minimum temperatures should be between  25 and 30 degrees. Others such as The Weather Channel (above) or the BBC (above) forecast lows of between 15 and 18 Celsius. Hopefully the BBC has it right and those of us without airconditioning will be able to get a good night's sleep - maybe even have to use a sheet! Please note: The weather forecast below automatically updates the present conditions. 


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2 comments:

Di said...

We had 3 days of up around 34 celsius and there was no coping with it. Belgian life doesn't prepare one for the rare summer heatwave. I have learned to be truly thankful for 20 celsius ... which is more normal. I hope you've found ways to beat the heat in the meantime.

The View From Fez said...

The pool around our fountain has become very crowded!