Weather tracker: Furnace Creek sizzles as snow sweeps Siberia in a week of extremes

Extreme weather across several parts of the world this week has brought record-breaking temperatures to Honduras, North America and Indonesia.Honduras smashed its all-time May maximum temperature record earlier this month – only for it to be broken again on 13 May in Choluteca, known as the furnace of Central America. Temperatures climbed to 42.2C (107.9F), surpassing the previous record of 42.1C. With intense heat forecast to persist over the coming weeks, more records are expected to fall.In the western US, it soared to 46.7C in the aptly named Furnace Creek, California. It marks the highest temperature recorded in the country so far this year and is exceptionally high for mid-May. Nearby weather stations registered temperatures of 46C, underlining the scale of the heat.Despite Indonesia being in its cool season, temperatures across the archipelago have recently shattered records. A daytime temperature of 35.8C was recorded in Manokwari on Wednesday, but it was the overnight heat that proved most alarming. Bali airport failed to drop below 27.9C for three consecutive nights, setting a new record for the area. The oppressive overnight temperatures extended to West Timor, farther east in the archipelago, where it did not dip below 26.4C, smashing the previous May record.A heatwave also swept across northern China and Mongolia, where 10 weather stations either matched or exceeded May records. Temperatures in the mid- to high-30s are forecast to continue over the weekend.Elsewhere in China, the extreme weather took a dramatically different turn. On 11 May, Rizhao, in Shandong province, was battered by a violent storm with hailstones reportedly larger than eggs. In stark contrast, on the same day heavy snowfall struck northern parts of Siberia, where 39mm of precipitation fell within 12 hours, producing 31cm of snowfall.