With 36.2°C, São Paulo breaks the temperature record of the year for the second day in a row

Yesterday, this same unit of measurement from the National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) had already recorded 35.9°C at the height of Christmas Day.

The weather phenomenon causing the heat, called atmospheric blocking, is expected to last at least until Monday (29), according to agency experts.

— There is now a high pressure system, an anticyclone, which acts at medium and high altitude, and which generates subsidence (downward movement of air) which makes it difficult for other fronts to enter — explains meteorologist Melk Duarte. — This happens more often in January, but it can happen in December, as we are seeing now.

With the heat approaching 40°C, summer scenes with São Paulo’s population in high spirits and frequenting parks are starting to take on a more negative tone. On the streets, people use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun and air-conditioned public spaces, such as shopping malls, begin to fill up.

The heat wave that hits the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during Christmas week should provide some relief after the New Year, but a dry summer is forecast for both months of the year and will remain hot.

According to the Inmet specialist, if a new heat wave occurs, it should also be aggravated by drought, because the absence of clouds increases solar radiation.

— Regarding precipitation, for the Southeast region, what the Inmet climate models indicate is that we will have accumulated precipitation up to 100 mm below average in January and February — says Duarte. — Generally, we have between three and four heatwaves per year in the Southeast, so even if the temperature drops a little after the 29th, that doesn’t mean we won’t have another one in January.

The criterion that Inmet uses to characterize a heatwave is that a given location remains for more than five days with a temperature 5°C above average. This is what is happening today and is expected to last until December 29 for the residents of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the New Year, the temperature should be a little lower, technically breaking the “wave”, but continuing the warmth.

A paradoxical situation of the anticyclone is that it puts the Southeast on high temperature and storm alert at the same time, because if an air front breaks the atmospheric blockage, it can bring a large volume of moisture in a short time.

This Saturday (27), the high temperature alert remains in the red category (great danger) for São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The storm warning is category yellow (potential danger), mainly covering Greater São Paulo, Interior Paulista and Triângulo Mineiro.