Trans-Dnestr has hottest summer in a 100 years

Two kids in Dubossary watch as a third dives into the Dniester river to cool off from the summer heat (file photo)

DUBOSSARY (Tiraspol Times) - As July is ending, the month is poised to be Transdnestr's hottest on record.

Meteorologist Vitalius Kolvenko said that nothing like it has been seen in the past one hundred years, and even back then the high temperature was only a one-day fluke and nothing like the prolonged heatwave of this year.

" - We haven't had it as strong as long," he said, referring to the present summer in Transdnestr (officially: Pridnestrovie) which is the hottest during the entire history of meteorological observations.

As reported by the Tiraspol office of international news agency New Region, deputy director Vitalius Kolvenko of the PMR Hydrometeorological Center announced that record temperatures started to make themselves felt in May, but reached their peak in July. Throughout the month, the average daily temperature hovered at more than 8 degrees above the norm for July.

Dubossary water coolers

In Dubossary, local youth headed to the Dniester river and the Dubossary dam to cool off from the heat, while in the south of the country most people stayed indoors to protect themselves from the sweltering sun.
Transdnestr's authorities report that temperatures hit 41.9C (107.4F) in the southern town of Slobodzya – the highest ever recorded in the 'de facto' independent nation.

In the capital of Tiraspol, temperatures are at their highest for the past one hundred years.

" - A similar temperature was observed exactly 100 years ago, but back then there was only one hot day on record. Now this unprecedented intense heat has lasted more than week," said Kolvenko. "During July we beat all previous records."

Kamenka, the northernmost city in Transdnestr, normally enjoys a cool climate in a mountainous region which is often referred to as "the Pridnestrovian Alps". Over the past week, however, the climate reminded more of Swaziland than of Switzerland, with the temperature reaching 41,5 degrees C.

Owing to a so-called anticyclone which drove hot air from northern Africa, rain during July was only 4 mm instead of the 60 mm which meteorologists had originally predicted. The heat and the lack of rain will cause large losses in this year's harvest.

Over the past week, the prolonged heatwave took hundreds of lives in Southern and Eastern Europe, with Hungary topping the list of victims with approximately 500 dead. Reuters reported that Romania banned outdoor work as the week-long heatwave's death toll climbed to 18 there, while Greece called a state of emergency, with forecast temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113F) in south-east Europe.

In Transdnestr, traffic- and drowning accidents were reported but it was unclear if these could be blamed directly on the heat or on unrelated factors. No one died from heat stroke. The government has established cooling centers and flexible work hours, allowing offices to take time off and outdoor workers to stay indoors for when the heat gets too intense.

See also:
» PMR heatwave brings record temperatures for May; locals hit the beach
» Hot summer as Tiraspol sweats out heat wave