Sebastian Fest

Updated Sunday, March 17, 2024-00:14

It will be difficult to forget in Rio de Janeiro the (southern) summer that is about to end these days: the iconic Brazilian city was the scene in recent months of a succession of heat records that reached this Saturday the

unprecedented record of 60.1 degrees of thermal sensation.

"Temperatures will continue to be high this Sunday and Monday," said meteorologist Raquel Franco, from the Institute of Meteorology (Inmet).

The emblematic beaches of

Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon

were a sea of ​​umbrellas this Saturday: locals and tourists turned to the sea looking for relief from the heat, although the reflection of the sun on the sand and water did not exactly moderate it.

Thus, thousands and thousands of bathers spent more time than usual in the water.

"Rio is for the strong!" highlighted the Rio newspaper

O Globo

.

The thermal sensation in

Guaratiba

, in the western part of the city, reached

60.1 degrees at 10:20 in the morning,

the highest recorded since measurements began in 2014.

Thermal sensation is a heat index calculated

from temperature and relative humidity data:

the higher the temperature and relative humidity, the greater the sensation of heat.

This Friday, Sao Paulo also set its heat record for March.


"At this time of year, the sun shines a lot in the southern hemisphere. But at the same time, between afternoon and night, rain occurs that helps to temper the temperature. Solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface, is absorbed and this begins to radiate into the atmosphere, heating the air. When we have clouds and rain, part of this radiation is absorbed by the cloudiness, like a filter. As we have little cloudiness and little rain, this is reflected in the temperature, which rises Thus,

all the energy from the sun heats the air,"

explained Olivio Bahia, from Inmet.

The previous record in Rio de Janeiro dated November 18, 2023, with 59.7 degrees of wind chill at 8:05 in the morning.

After two tourist seasons in which constant rains were the trend in summer, Rio de Janeiro experienced an extremely hot summer in 2023/2024.