Heat wave is expected to reach temperature records in Brazil: “it will be far from normal”

Written in ENVIRONMENT he 4/27/2024 · 5:11 pm

Meteorologists from the MetSul website anticipate a surprising heat wave in Brazil over the next week, especially in the Center-South region of the country, with temperatures above 40º C in several regions and likely temperature records for the period of the year.

The situation is extraordinary from a climatological point of view, with temperatures well above normal for the end of April and beginning of May, meteorologists say.

“We emphasize that the heat at the end of April and the beginning of May will be far from normal. It is an extraordinary situation from a climatological point of view, since temperatures at this expected level deviate absurdly from historical normals”, says meteorologist Estael Sias in an article in Metsul.

The heat will last throughout the first week of May, with a possible cold front starting in the second week of next month.

Records

Temperatures in Rio de Janeiro and Baixada Fluminense should vary between 35ºC and 40ºC, a value well above the average for this time of year.

In the city of São Paulo, highs are expected to exceed 33ºC, something considered abnormal for this time of year. The absolute maximum temperature record for May, set at 31.7ºC, would therefore be surpassed according to projections.

Furthermore, in the south of the country storms with wind gusts of up to 70 km/h are expected, especially in Rio Grande do Sul and the south of Santa Catarina. Paraná will also see a significant increase in thermometers.

The North and Northeast will not be drastically affected by the heat wave, but they will also experience high temperatures and rain in the coming days.

The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) does not yet classify the forecast as a heat wave like MetSul, but predicts temperatures above average for the period.

“Inmet explains that it uses the Heat Wave nomenclature when the forecast indicates that temperatures (in this case, especially the maximum) should be 5ºC above the monthly average for a period of at least two to three consecutive days, in a given area of scope”, he states.