Intense heat wave sets record temperatures in Santiago, Chile

An intense heat wave shakes the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chilewhere this Wednesday the thermometer marked 37.3 degrees Celsius, the third highest temperature recorded in the last 55 years, the Meteorological Directorate of Chili (DMC).

According to the source, the figure was reached at 4:07 p.m. local time (1:07 p.m. GMT) at a station in the commune of Quinta Normal, a popular neighborhood in the center of the capital.

The record temperature was only surpassed in 2017, the year in which the same station reached 37.4, and one degree below the historical maximum, the 38.3 degrees supported in January 2018.

The figure was only surpassed by the same month in 2017, when it reached 37.4 degrees, and in January 2018, when the historical maximum of 38.3 degrees was reached.

The highest temperature that Chile has recorded since there are records is 42.2 degrees Celsius, which broke the thermometers in 2017 in the Andean city of The Angelsin the center of the country.

Red alert extends in Santiago

The red alert for unusually high temperatures remains until the weekend, so the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) has put all its troops on alert and launched a series of tips to avoid heat strokes and the effects of long exposures.

The authority recommends not walking during the hottest hours of the day, taking shelter in your homes, continually hydrating yourself well, and being especially careful with the most vulnerable population, mainly the elderly and children.

For this Thursday, the DMC forecasts 36°C and a slight drop to 34°C on Friday and Saturday.

Meteorologists point to the phenomenon of The boy and the climate emergency as the cause of the extreme rise in temperatures in Chile for a decade.

The same experts agree in predicting that temperatures will continue to rise and that the capital’s record of 38.3 degrees could be surpassed even this year.

The absence of wind in the trans-Andean capital, built at the foot of the Andes mountain range and between large hills that turn it into a pot and isolate it from the sea, the absence of flowing rivers, the scarcity of parks with trees and vegetation , the massive construction of buildings and intense traffic are factors that also contribute to the increase in heat.

Also influencing is the overpopulation of the metropolitan region, where nearly eight million people live, that is, almost half of the Chilean population.