Rio records 58.5°C real-feel temperature in the morning

At 9:15 am on Tuesday (Nov. 14), Rio de Janeiro recorded its highest apparent temperature since 2014, 58.5 degrees Celsius (°C). The measurement was taken by the municipal weather service station Alerta Rio in Guaratiba, on the city’s west side. At the time, the thermometers read 35.5°C.

Since the arrival of the heatwave affecting several Brazilian states, Rio de Janeiro had already recorded the hottest day of the year on Sunday (12), with a temperature of 42.5°C, and an apparent temperature of 52 degrees on Monday morning (13).

Today’s record heat is the highest since Alerta Rio began taking temperature measurements in the city. The agency reports that the two other highest temperatures this year were 58.3°C, on February 17, and 58°C, on February 4.

The intense heat reported mainly in the Southeast and Central-West of Brazil is expected to continue throughout the week, and the absence of clouds in the sky makes exposure to solar radiation and the sensation of heat even more dangerous.

The heatwave has arrived at a time of year when the rainy season is usually established and when clouds act as a kind of temperature control. The absence of this defense, according to Anete Fernandes, a meteorologist at the National Meteorological Institute (Inmet), exacerbates the effects of the phenomenon.

“When we have a lack of rain at this time of year, which we call a veranico, the absence of clouds favors a high incidence of radiation on the surface, which is what is happening now. So temperatures rise a lot,” she explained.