cities and towns of Argentina, like some neighboring countries, have been seeing record high temperatures, at a time when many parts of the region are under a historic heat wave.
“Practically all of Argentina and also (…) in Uruguay, the south of Brazil and Paraguay we are experiencing the hottest days in history,” said Cindy Fernández, meteorologist with the Argentine National Meteorological Service (SMN).
The climate service has said that many locations have reached their highest temperature mark on record, with some areas enduring as high as 45 degrees Celsius.
“In Argentina, from the center of Patagonia to the north of the country, thermal values are being recorded that are reaching or exceeding 40 degrees,” Fernández explained.
High temperatures and a prolonged lack of rain have hit Argentina’s crops, although there is hope that rains starting this weekend will mark the end of the drought that began in December.
“Another hellish day,” lamented Elizabeth Bassin, as she waited for a bus in Buenos Aires. “But hey, we come from a very hot week and it’s like the body gets used to it,” he added.
According to Fernández, a mass of hot air formed over Argentina in the first weeks of summer.
We are having “many days of clear skies, where solar radiation is very intense and in a context of extreme drought that Argentina has been going through for about two years,” he said.
“This means that the soil is very dry and a soil that is dry heats up much more than a soil that is wet,” he added.
