People in Hermosillo are used to the heat: in this northwestern Mexican city known for its scorching weather and nicknamed the “City of the Sun,” the sustained scorching temperatures are a pride of locals.
But on a Sunday in June, temperatures hit a record high when thermometers read 49.5 degrees Celsius, or 121 Fahrenheit.
“It was like getting fireballs thrown at me,” said Isabel Rodríguez, a gas station attendant en route to Hermosillo. At a local fountain in town, a father used his hat to douse water over his daughter to protect himself from the heat.
Scorching temperatures also prevailed in the rest of the country.
June tends to be a rainy month in Mexico, but this year El Niño, the global weather pattern often associated with intense heat, made for hotter, less rainy days. At temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 23 Mexican states were on weather alertIt’s last month. More than 110 people have died from heat-related causes this season.
“It’s very atypical and is due to a high pressure area,” said Dr. Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
This phenomenon, which creates clockwise air circulation, prevents cloud formation and, added Dr. Domínguez Sarmiento adds, “It allows the radiation to hit it directly because the sky is completely clear and thus surface temperatures rise.”
The Madden-Julian Oscillation, a cluster of thunderstorms that regularly sweep across the equator, was also at play and further prevented cloud formation, explained Dr. Dominguez Sarmiento.
The researcher added that land use also contributed to increased heat perception: “If we had a lot more forest cover,” she said of urban sprawl, “we might feel lower temperatures, but we’re really surrounded by asphalt and stuff.” also contributes to this discomfort.”
In Hermosillo, a city of about 936,000, that feeling manifested itself in burning eyes, throbbing heads, and dripping sweat.
“Even with an umbrella,” said Luis Grande, a lone student walking the Sonora University campus, “I felt like my eyes were about to burst with heat.”
And yet life in Hermosillo, long accustomed to scorching temperatures, seemed to go on: schools stayed open and women took the children to class; Football games should continue to be played at noon.
“It hit you like it was cooking your skin,” said María Ángeles López, a homemaker, of the heat. She sat in Madero Park in downtown Hermosillo while her daughter Aitana played under a sprinkler system.
“I was desperate because it was so uncomfortable,” she said, adding that her family had three air conditioners at home, but she tried to turn them off because utility bills tended to rise in the hotter months.
Power outages have been reported across Mexico in recent weeks due to high temperatures.
Half of all small grocery stores in the country have been affected by outages and about 15 percent of those stores have lost refrigerated produce, the National Alliance of Small Shopkeepers told local media.
Mexico City, the capital, was experiencing an ice shortage and some grocery stores were rationing ice cream sales.
Authorities in Hermosillo distributed water to the homeless and advised residents to wear hats and loose clothing, cook less and stay out of the sun. Some families sought solace in the waters of a nearby river, an hour’s drive from Hermosillo.
Children splashed around and parents drank beer on Paseo El Molinito, a recreational area outside of town. A cozy hammock swayed to the gentle rustle of the leaves while accordion music blared from a loudspeaker. A man in charge of collecting entrance fees for the site planned to stay open beyond the usual hours.
Smoke from some small wildfires rose up along the road from Hermosillo to El Molinito, making the unbearable day even more uncomfortable. The Mexican state of Sonora, where Hermosillo is located, has recorded 89 wildfires so far in 2023, the highest number in more than two decades, according to the National Forestry Commission.
People in rural Sonora start work at 4 a.m. to escape the sweltering heat and take a break at midday. They take a break until 4 p.m. when the weather conditions are manageable again.
And it’s not just people who can’t take the heat. Some electronic devices shut down when exposed to high temperatures for too long.
“We still have July, August and September ahead of us,” said Refugio Estrada, who lives outside of Hermosillo. People know that the canícula, the days of the dog, are not here yet.