A record level.
The heat wave that has affected Latin America since the start of the year has caused the temperature felt to rise to 62.3 degrees Celsius in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this weekend, as rain threatens in the south from the country.
“Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
Hydrate yourself!
», warned Rio's municipal alert system on a record since this type of measure began in 2014. The western area of Rio is made up of poor, remote and underserved neighborhoods, where more than 40% of the population of this city of more than six million inhabitants lives.
HIDRATE-SE🥤|
We don't believe it's Guaratiba that it's what you're looking for!
As well as those in the system, other locations in the city also present a temperature sensing at up to 50°C.
Confira em: https://t.co/KxWSGS9UYA pic.twitter.com/0uHkoAOk2t
— Sistema Alerta Rio - Prefeitura do Rio (@AlertaRio) March 17, 2024
With a maximum real temperature of 42°C on Sunday, the felt temperature rose to the highest even in the residential area of the Botanical Garden in the south of Rio, privileged with its numerous vegetation and where the felt temperature rose to 57.7° C Sunday.
“We are trying to protect ourselves, to go to a more open place, with the sea, but we have to do something,” said Rio resident Raquel Correia, 49, in a central park.
“I am very afraid that it will get worse, because the population is increasing a lot and deforestation is very significant due to the increase in the number of housing units,” she added.
Emblematic of Rio, the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana were packed with people on Sunday.
Many have also found refuge in Tijuca Park, a real green lung in the city.
Floods in the south
In the south of Brazil, on the contrary, it is rain that threatens.
Extreme rainfall is expected to continue this week, authorities warned.
“The week will be at high risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms in south-central Brazil,” weather information agency MetSul warned on Sunday.
“The most concerning system is a very intense cold front that will arrive with torrential rain and possible gales,” she added.
⚠️ TEMPO |
Very intense fries in the Central-Sul Brazil and large-scale orográfica in the South.
Heard the video with a meteorologist @Estaelsias where this week is very risky for severe weather.
▶️ https://t.co/TnGBMonO7F pic.twitter.com/4JcS3g0A7T
— MetSul Meteorologia (@metsul) March 17, 2024
Some localities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul are recording “exceptionally high” rainfall volumes.
Uruguaiana, the state's worst-hit city, broadcast images of flooded streets and buses half in water.
Up to 500 mm of water could fall, according to MetSul, while in February the state of Rio Grande do Sul was suffocating with heat due to an "extreme heat dome" from Argentina.
Experts attribute these extreme phenomena and meteorological instability to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon which affects the southern cone of Latin America, in the middle of summer, causing forest fires in Chile.
The current climate has already warmed by around 1.2°C compared to 1850-1900, causing an increase in episodes of drought, floods and heat waves.