Even in times of heatwaves, the night is expected to bring temperatures down to a tolerable level. The city of Quiryat, Omanon experienced a new world record for the highest minimum temperature on the night of June 26, 2018. In a 24-hour period – measured from midnight to midnight- the “low” temperature hadn’t gone below 42.6°C (108.7°F). The previous record for a 24-hour period low was 41.9°C (107.4°F), and it was also set at Oman, near Khassab Airport in 2011.
To make things even hotter, the temperature in Quiryat remained above 41.9°C (107.4°F) for 51 hours- from June 25 all the way through June 27. The maximum daytime temperature during the period was 49.8°C (121.6°F) – just a degree Celsius below the all-time high temperature record for Oman, 50.8°C (123.4°F).
What makes that region of Oman such a hot locality? Brandon Miller, a senior meteorologist at CNN, said that Quriyat’s record-breaking constant can be explained by its location – the coast of Gulf of Oman.
“You have the scorching temps coming from the Arabian Peninsula and the warm, humid air from the Gulf of Oman. Where they meet, you get extreme heat index and extremely high overnight lows because the air can’t cool down much at night because of the humidity.“
However, we cannot overlook the fact that that hot, tropical nights are so a signature of climate change. The global pattern of heat waves, persistent droughts, wildfires and new heat recordssuggest the substantial impact of global warming mechanisms on extreme heat and extreme weather in general.
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In line with that, many new temperature records have been set from the end of June through July all over the world.

New Temperature Records Timeline
On June 28, Scotland’s capital Glasgow had its thermometers at 31.9°C (89.4°F), a new all-time record.
On the same day,Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast experienced the new highest recorded temperature, with thermometers showing 29.5°C.
On July 2, Montreal, Canadahas reached a new record of 36.6°C (97.9°F). The soaring temperature was a part of a devastating heatwave combining high humidity and unusually high temperatures. It caused the death of 54 people in Canada.
On the other side of the world, the temperature in Tbilisi, Georgiareached 40.5°C (104.9°F) on July 4.
On the 5th of July, the town of Ouargla, Algeria, saw its temperatures rise to 51.3°C (124.3°F), making it not just a new record for Algeria, but for the entire African continent as well.
During almost the entire month of July, the non-typical heat in Norway and Sweden set several new records in the northern regions, with the greatest anomalies occurring in or near the Arctic circle. Even that far North, the temperatures reached over 30°C (89°F), with even the minimum nighttime temperatures remaining high (Makkaur, Norway – 25.2°C on 18 July). At the same time, Sweden was experiencing intense drought along with historical forest fires.
In Siberia, accurate terrain monitoring is scarce, but tested models showed that during the same heat wave that had driven the temperatures up to 40 degrees Fahrenheit above average in Northern Siberia on July 5.
On July 6, the temperature in Los Angeles at UCLA soared to 43.9 (111°F), surpassing the record from 1939. Several more records have been broken or tied in Southern California as well.
It is often said that “the records are made to be broken”, but as we witness global extreme heat events in the present and compare data from the past – it becomes clear that we are stepping into the unknown (but predicted) territory of unignorable climate change consequences.
New temperature records continue to be set in August.
References
Town in Oman Breaks World Record for Hottest Night, Ecowatch. https://www.ecowatch.com/heat-records-oman-hottest-night-2582365130.html
A Minimum Temperature of 42.6 °C (108.7 °F) in Oman on June 26, 2018: a New World Record. 27 June 2018. Weather Underground. https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Minimum-Temperature-426-C-1087-F-Oman-June-26-2018-New-World-Record
Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week. 5 July 2018. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/07/03/hot-planet-all-time-heat-records-have-been-set-all-over-the-world-in-last-week/?utm_term=.b83c1fc7a39a
Record-breaking heat hits Norway, Finland and Sweden, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 July 2018: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/record-breaking-heat-hits-norway-finland-and-sweden-20180718-p4zs3x.html
July sees extreme weather with high impacts. 1 August 2018. WMO. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/july-sees-extreme-weather-high-impacts
All-time high temperature records set throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles. 6 July 2018. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/07/06/monster-heat-dome-threatens-all-time-high-temperature-records-in-southern-california-friday/?utm_term=.f04d73441b3e