The week with the highest temperatures since approved measurement systems became available, with a record of 50.4 ºC at the Agadir weather station on Friday, August 11, 2023 at 1:33 p.m. This is the official balance of maximums of the heat wave of recent days in Morocco, which has lasted for almost a week due to the meteorological phenomenon known as chergui (hot and dry wind from the Sahara). Similar circumstances have caused very high temperatures in practically the entire Canary Islands archipelago.
The General Directorate of Meteorology of Morocco (Maroc Meteo) has indicated in an official note that "the maximum temperature of 50.4 °C is considered a new absolute national record", indicating that "the old absolute record was 49.9 ºC, registered in Smara on July 13, 2023".
Despite the fact that there are unofficial records (from non-approved stations) that indicate that this temperature has been exceeded in Morocco in recent decades, Maroc Meteo now states verbatim that "this temperature recorded on Friday in Agadir exceeds 50 degrees for the first time in Morocco.
The Agadir Ait Melloul weather station recorded a value of 50.2 °C that same day, considered a new absolute record
The Moroccan service points out that "the meteorological situation was characterized from Monday, August 7, 2023, and until Sunday, August 13, 2023, by a Chergui-type heat wave, which affected most of the country."
"This scorching climate is due to the increase in the mass of dry and hot air from the south, causing a significant increase in temperatures and exceeding the monthly normal of 5 to 13 degrees, particularly on Friday, August 11, and Saturday, August 12, 2023," indicates the Maroc Meteo note.
The chergui is characterized by a sustained easterly wind from the greater Sahara to Morocco. "By overcoming the Alto and Anti-Atlas chain, the hot Saharawi air initially experienced a new increase in heat as a result of what is called the Fohen effect.
The significant increase in temperature was also favorable to the raising of dust in the air and the appearance of electrical storms in the reliefs of the High Atlas and the neighboring regions to the west (Marrakech and Agadir).
Maroc Meteo points out that the TAN TAN weather station registered a value of 48.2 °C on 08/11/2023, considered a new absolute record instead of 47.6 °C registered in August 2017. This day, August 11, 2023, has also experienced a absolute monthly record in Tiznit with a value of 48.3 °C, a figure that exceeds the 47 °C registered in August 2010, and experienced values close to the absolute monthly record in Taroudant (48.3 °C) and in Guelmim (47.4 ° C).
The heat wave of the last week is added to thermal values of "a particularly hot summer", indicates Maroc Meteo. In Morocco, July ranked fourth among the hottest July months since 1961.
The forecasts for the next few days are for high temperatures from Monday to Friday in the north and central interior plains, the south and the southeast of the country, although "a slight drop in temperatures is expected in the north of the country on Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15, 2023".
