Tokyo's heatwave stretches to record-tying 37 days

TOKYO (AFP) Aug 11, 2004
Tokyo continued to swelter in a heatwave Wednesday, the 37th consecutive day temperatures had reached 30 Degrees CelsiusFahrenheit), equalling a record set in 1995, the Meteorological Agency said.

There was no immediate prospect of relief either as the agency forecast that the baking weather would continue for at least for the next seven days.

"The record is most likely to be broken tomorrow," an agency official said. The 37-day heatwave is the longest on record for Tokyo's financial district since the agency began recording data in 1876.

On July 20, the temperature in central Tokyo hit 39.5 Celsius, the highest since the agency began compiling data for high temperatures in 1923. The average daytime high in July was 33.1 Celsius.

The hot and humid weather has claimed several lives and caused more than 300 people to collapse and require hospital treatment last month.

Industry figures show the heatwave has boosted sales of air-conditioners, fans, beer and summer clothing sharply from a year earlier, when the coolest summer in a decade dampened many business sectors and led to poor crops.

TERRA.WIRE