Heat Wave Broils Southeast Europe .c The Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Scorching heat claimed more lives, rekindled fires and closed sweltering offices across southeast Europe Tuesday, and forecasters said the heat wave will continue to the weekend. In Switzerland, an unusual cold snap brought snow to Alpine passes, forcing at least one to close to allow snowplows to clear 12 miles of road. But it was a different weather story in Greece, where firefighters managed to extinguish more than 150 wildfires, but were still battling to put out a blaze on the resort island of Samos. A weeklong heat wave in the region was expected to peak Wednesday with temperatures forecast to reach a high of 109. The mercury was expected to drop into the high 70s or 80s by Friday, the national weather service said. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the heat wave is blamed for the death of Greek-American Louise-Marie Roussou, 62, who suffered a heart attack. That brought to five the number of heat-related deaths since the weekend, authorities said. Tuesday's temperatures reached 106 in the shade in Nicosia. There are fears a prolonged heat wave could trigger the same deadly effects as August 1998 when a record hot spell claimed some 60 lives. In Turkey, the government ordered state offices shut down for two days this week after meteorologists predicted more intense heat in the coming days. Temperatures in the heat wave have surpassed 104 across much of Turkey - well above seasonal averages. At least 12 people have died, including two on Tuesday, in heat-related incidents. The National Climatic Data Center noted that the United States experienced the hottest January-May in 106 years of record keeping -- a report sure to stir the debate over the potential threat of global warming. On a global basis, land and ocean surface temperature readings also were warmer than normal, tying 1990 as the second warmest spring on record. Recent work by David Hathaway, a solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight Center, indicates that solar activity will peak around the middle of the year 2000. "Our predictions have consistently targeted 2000 as the beginning of solar maximum," says Hathaway. "The projected peak is comparable to ... the peaks of the last two maxima (in 1989 and 1978) -- above average compared to all sunspots cycle since the mid 1700s." --http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast14oct99_1.htm
