Brazil suffered in its southern half an unusual cold wave for the month of May, dangerous for the homeless and the crops. With 1.4 degrees Celsius, the capital Brasilia recorded the coldest temperature in its history on Thursday.
On the website of the meteorological agency Inmet, a map of Brazil shows the entire southern half colored in orange, with the caption: “cold wave (danger)”, while the austral winter does not officially begin until the end of June.
In São Paulo, the largest megalopolis in Latin America, the thermometer posted 6.6 degrees on Wednesday, a record for a month of May since 1990, with a feeling of -4 degrees.
A homeless person loses his life
A 66-year-old homeless man died on Wednesday after fainting while waiting in line at a food distribution center. According to Brazilian media, he had spent the night on the street.
São Paulo City Hall announced earlier this week the opening of 2,000 additional places in emergency accommodation sites, bringing the total capacity to around 17,000. But the economic capital of Brazil has nearly 32,000 homeless people, twice as many as in 2015 and 31% more than three years ago, before the coronavirus pandemic.
Hurricane Yakecan in question
With a minimum temperature of around 12 degrees Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, we are still far from seeing an invasion of penguins on Copacabana beach, but many Cariocas have taken thick sweaters, even anoraks, out of their wardrobes.
In the southern state of Santa Catarina, which has been recording temperatures below 2 degrees for several days, the snow has made tourists happy.
According to Estael Sias, a specialist with the meteorological agency Metsul, this cold wave “atypical for this time of year” is due to cyclone Yakecan, which affected southern Brazil and Uruguay and “pushed masses of “polar air” further north, inland”. “This cyclone is an anomaly, which certainly falls within the framework of extreme events linked to climate change”, she specifies.
ats/jfe