This Saturday, March 16, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro recorded the greatest thermal sensation in its history: the temperature reached an unimaginable 60.1 degrees. Thermal sensation is what people actually feel, regardless of the values recorded by official thermometers, since heat adds, among other factors, to the relative humidity of the air.
This suffocating heat sensation was recorded at the Guaratiba weather station in the west of the city at 10:20 am. The official maximum temperature recorded this Saturday was 40.3 degrees, recorded by equipment at the Iraha meteorological station in the north of the country.
The previous highest temperature sensation was 59.7 degrees, also recorded in Guaratiba on November 17 last year, a date marked by human tragedy. Young 23-year-old student Ana Benevides, who traveled a long way to Rio de Janeiro to fulfill her dream of attending a Taylor Swift performance, died of dehydration right at the end of the first song performed by the artist. , unable to bear the intense heat that was felt that night at the Nilton Santos stadium in the north of the capital Rio de Janeiro, crowded with tens of thousands of people without ventilation and without an organization guaranteeing their access to water.
With a temperature of 60.1 degrees this Saturday, a huge mass of locals and tourists rushed to the beaches to try to keep the heat to a minimum, but each of these many thousands of hot-tempered people had to fight a real hand-to-hand fight for a place. in the sand, no matter how small it may be. Anyone who looked at the beaches of Rio de Janeiro this Saturday saw almost no sand, completely covered by a sea of people jostling for a few extra centimeters, there was a queue even to enter the real sea, and in kiosks, bars and restaurants you had to wait a whole forever to get a bottle of anything.
If Saturday was already difficult for Rio de Janeiro and foreigners affected by the extreme heat, which also affected Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and even the usually cold states in the south of the country, Sunday could be even worse. The official temperature could be even higher this Sunday, topping 42 degrees, which is likely to push the feeling of warmth to a new record, according to the Rio Alert Service.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.