We reported earlier this week (Records Toppled as NOAA Releases Latest Surface Temperature Data, 15 June 2010)  that surface air temperatures over land in the Northern Hemisphere in May were the hottest on record for the month.  To add an exclamation point to that record, there was extraordinary heat in Asia.  According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (State of the Climate, Global Hazards, May 2010 [updated 9 June 2010]):

"Prior to the onset of the Southwest Monsoon rains, northern India and Pakistan baked as a heat wave scorched the region near the end of May. The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported record temperatures for several days during the last week in May. A maximum temperature of 128.7°F (53.7°C) was recorded in Mohenjo-daro on May 26^th. This was the warmest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan and possibly the fourth warmest temperature ever recorded anywhere in the world (Source: The Guardian). On the 27^th, the maximum temperature in the city of Multan in Punjab Province reached 122°F (50°C), breaking the old record of 120°F (49°C) previously set in 1956. Temperatures were also well above normal in India—the highest in more than 50 years (Source: Buzzle). The temperature reached 120°F (49°C) on May 26^th in Jalgaon in Maharashtra state while India's capital city, Delhi, topped out at 113°F (45°C) (Source: BBC news). At least 18 people died in Pakistan and more than 260 perished in India due to the heat, according to local media reports (Source: The Guardian; PakTribune). This was the first extreme heat wave to hit the Pakistani region since 1998."

According to Dr. Jeff Masters at the Weather Underground (Globe has 3rd consecutive warmest month on record, 17 June 2010), that record temperature at Mohenjo-daro was not just an all-time record for Pakistan.  "It is the hottest reliably measured temperature ever recorded on the continent of Asia," says Masters. He adds:

"Record heat also hit Southeast Asia in May. According to the Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Myanmar (Burma) had its hottest temperature in its recorded history on May 12, when the mercury hit 47°C (116.6°F) in Myinmu. Myanmar's previous hottest temperature was 45.8°C (114.4°F) at Minbu, Magwe division on May 9, 1998. According to Chris Burt, author of Extreme Weather, the 47°C (116.6°F) measured on May 12 this year is the hottest temperature measured in Southeast Asia in recorded history."