Furnace Creek didn’t just live up to its name this week. Death Valley, the hottest place in North America, topped 50°C as parts of Honduras and the southwestern U.S. sweltered under historically high temperatures. On May 13, the Honduran city of Choluteca hit 42.2°C, beating the country’s previous May record of 42.1°C set just days earlier. The heat isn’t slowing down—forecasts warn temperatures could climb higher in the coming weeks, with more records likely to fall across Central America. Honduras isn’t alone. Cities from Phoenix to Dallas are bracing for days above 40°C, straining power grids and pushing heat-related hospital visits up sharply. Power companies in Texas asked customers to conserve energy after demand spiked during a record early heat wave in May. The grid operator, ERCOT, warned this could be a sign of things to come as climate change makes heat waves longer and more intense. Elsewhere, Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, hit 37°C this week—its hottest May day in at least 20 years. The city’s heat index, which accounts for humidity, made it feel closer to 45°C. Health officials reported a surge in heat exhaustion cases, especially among outdoor workers and the elderly. The extreme heat follows a pattern: 2023 was the hottest year on record, and scientists say 2024 could be even worse. ## Snow in Siberia while China gets crushed by hail In contrast, parts of Siberia woke up to rare May snowfall this week, surprising residents in cities like Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. The snow, which blanketed streets and disrupted travel, arrived after weeks of unusually warm spring weather. Meteorologists called it unusual but not unprecedented—similar late-season snow has hit Siberia before, though it’s becoming less common as temperatures rise. Meanwhile, eastern China faced the opposite problem: hail the size of tennis balls. In Jiangsu province, hailstones up to 7 centimeters wide pounded cities like Nanjing, shattering windows, damaging crops, and injuring at least 23 people. The storm also brought winds up to 120 km/h, knocking down trees and power lines. Videos showed cars with dented hoods and shattered glass littering streets. Local officials called it one of the worst hailstorms in years, with damages estimated in the millions. The extreme contrasts—heat in the Americas, snow in Siberia, and violent storms in China—highlight how climate change is disrupting weather patterns worldwide. Scientists say these swings are becoming more frequent and severe as the planet warms. The World Meteorological Organization recently warned that 2024 could bring even more extreme events as global temperatures continue to rise. ## Why these extremes are happening at the same time The simultaneous extremes aren’t a coincidence. They’re driven by a mix of natural climate patterns and human-caused warming. El Niño, which peaked earlier this year, helped push global temperatures higher, but it’s not the only factor. A stubborn high-pressure system over North America has locked in the heat, while shifts in the jet stream are funneling cold air into Siberia and pushing storms into eastern China. These patterns are getting amplified by climate change. Warmer air holds more moisture, which fuels heavier rainfall and larger hailstones. At the same time, heat waves are becoming more intense as greenhouse gases trap more heat in the atmosphere. The result? Fewer “normal” days and more records being broken. ## What’s next for the regions hit by extremes In Honduras, relief won’t come soon. The country’s national weather service predicts temperatures will stay above 40°C for at least another two weeks, with little rain in sight. Farmers are already reporting crop damage, and water shortages are worsening in rural areas. The government has set up cooling centers in cities, but power outages remain a risk as demand spikes. In China, cleanup from the hailstorm is underway. Insurance companies are assessing the damage, and local governments are inspecting infrastructure for repairs. The storm has also sparked calls for better early warning systems to predict severe weather like this. Siberia’s snow, meanwhile, is expected to melt quickly as temperatures rise back into the teens by the weekend. But the unusual late snowfall is a reminder of how climate change is making weather more unpredictable—even in places where extremes are rare. These events aren’t isolated. They’re a preview of what’s likely to become more common as the world gets hotter. The question isn’t whether more records will fall—it’s how fast they’ll break.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: The Guardian
  • Published: May 15, 2026 at 10:04 UTC
  • Category: World
  • Topics: #guardian · #world-news · #international · #weather · #furnace-creek · #siberia

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 15, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

O mundo viveu uma semana de contrastes climáticos sem precedentes, com um vale nos Estados Unidos registrando temperaturas capazes de derreter metal ao mesmo tempo em que uma região da Rússia amanheceu coberta por uma nevasca inesperada. Enquanto Furnace Creek, no Vale da Morte, nos EUA, atingia impressionantes 53,9°C, a cidade siberiana de Tomsk enfrentava um frio intenso com neve acumulada, em um cenário que reforça os alertas sobre a intensificação dos eventos extremos.

No Brasil e para os leitores de língua portuguesa, essa sucessão de fenômenos extremos serve como um lembrete urgente dos impactos das mudanças climáticas, que não poupam nem as regiões mais remotas do planeta. Honduras, por exemplo, registrou marcas históricas de calor, enquanto na China, granizo do tamanho de ovos danificou plantações e veículos, um fenômeno raro que expõe a vulnerabilidade das cadeias produtivas globais. Para um país como o Brasil, fortemente dependente da agricultura e com vastas áreas suscetíveis a secas e inundações, esses eventos reforçam a necessidade de políticas públicas que mitiguem os riscos climáticos e preparem a população para um futuro cada vez mais instável.

Esses episódios devem servir de combustível para as discussões na COP28, que começa em breve, onde líderes mundiais precisarão apresentar ações concretas, não apenas promessas.

🇪🇸 Resumen en Español

El termómetro se disparó hasta los 53,3 °C en el Valle de la Muerte mientras Siberia amanecía bajo un manto blanco, un contraste que refleja la intensidad de los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos que han sacudido esta semana a América y Asia.

La ola de calor en Honduras, donde los registros superaron los 40 °C, y las granizadas del tamaño de huevos en China oriental —fenómenos ambos sin precedentes recientes— subrayan la aceleración del cambio climático. Para los hispanohablantes, estos eventos no son meras anécdotas: evidencian cómo la crisis ambiental ya está reconfigurando paisajes, economías y hasta la seguridad alimentaria en regiones cercanas, desde Centroamérica hasta el Mediterráneo, donde sequías e inundaciones se alternan con creciente frecuencia.