BEIJING (AP) — Employers across much of China were ordered Monday to limit outdoor work due to scorching temperatures, while the east and southwest were warned to prepare for torrential rain as the country struggled with heat, flooding and drought.
Temperatures as high as 104 degrees were reported in cities including Shijiazhuang, southwest of Beijing, the capital. Highs of 95 to 100 were reported in Beijing, Guangzhou in the south, Chongqing in the southwest and Shenyang in the northeast.
In the U.S., record heat will spread from the Southwest across Texas and the Great Plains this week, with temperatures of 100 degrees or more straining electricity networks.
The blistering heat will sear down across the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, challenging local records. Temperatures in Phoenix may reach 109 Sunday and as high as 114F across the region. Residents have been urged to stay indoors and seek air conditioning.
An excessive heat warning extends across parts of southern California and Arizona, and heat advisories reach into Texas and Florida, where temperatures in many places may reach or exceed 100F for days, the National Weather Service said.
Record-breaking heat taxed energy grids in both Mexico and Texas in June, with power outages popping up and the threat of rolling blackouts rising as officials tried to manage supplies. A surge of deaths across northern Mexico were blamed on excessive heat.
Del Rio, Texas, set 12 daily temperatures records, including 11 in a row, as well as posting its all-time hottest day of 115F on June 21.
Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high last Thursday, the third such milestone in the hottest week on record.
