Extreme May Temperatures: Dry Air Carrying Dust From North Africa Enters Parts Of Spain

Large parts of Spain were under alert Friday as a wave of intense heat began sweeping across the country, leaving residents sweltering through May temperatures that rank among the hottest in two decades.

A mass of hot, dry air carrying dust from North Africa has pushed temperatures up to 15 degrees above average, with the mercury topping 40 C (104 F) in parts of the country.

The State Meteorological Agency said it expected the “unusual and extreme” temperatures to peak on Saturday.

By Friday, a handful of records had already been set. In the southern Spanish city of Jaén, the temperature climbed to 38.7 C (101.7 F) — 15 degrees above the seasonal average — in a record for the month of May.

In the central city of Cuenca, the daily low temperature of 19.5 C (67.1 F) was two degrees higher than the previous May minimum.

While the temperatures are expected to fall short of what meteorologists in Spain define as a heat wave, what makes this episode singular will be its persistence, with nighttime temperatures expected to hover above 20 C (68 F) in many places.