In July, UN Secretary General famously said, “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived. Short of a mini-Ice Age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board.”
On Friday, the Meteorological Service issued a warning that temperatures here in TT will remain high on both islands for two weeks – September 15 to 29. This follows a period where TT hit record high temperatures on consecutive days in August. At some weather stations around the island, temperatures were recorded in the 50s.
The Met Service said there was an 80 per cent chance that temperatures near or greater than 34 degrees Celsius will continue over Trinidad for this period, while warm-to-hot conditions near 32.5 °C or greater are expected to occur across Tobago. It said the hottest time of the day is between 10 am-4 pm.
The Met Service said in cities, urban and built-up areas, the maximum temperatures are expected to be near to or greater than 34 degrees Celsius, and feel-like temperatures, particularly when the winds are calm to light, will likely to range between 34-44 degrees Celsius.
The Met Service said TT is in its heat season, which runs from May to October, and generally in September the islands experience mostly hot sunny periods and warm nights.
These are exacerbated by generally weak to occasionally moderate winds coming from the east to southeast with wind speeds of 20-30 kilometres per hour.
This September, the Met Service said there are many climatic features working together to promote warmer to hotter days. The winds are calm to light, with fewer cloudy periods which enables greater incoming solar radiation, particularly during the mid-morning to afternoon periods.
One of the climatic features is a moderately strong El Nino which generally restricts cloud development. El Nino tends to influence unfavourable conditions for cloud development and rainfall over TT.
Other features are a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which encourages weak winds across the Caribbean, warmer than usual Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures east of TT; the apparent local position of the sun at TT’s latitude and a southeasterly flow of wind from the equatorial region.
The Met Office said extreme temperatures can lead to relatively excessive heat for TT during the peak of the local heat season, which can amplify existing and worsen chronic health conditions in vulnerable people.
It said increased heat may increase the need to access cooling. The TT Electricity Commission said at the end of August that it had experienced unprecedented levels of electricity demand, with 1,400.2 megawatts (MW) being used on August 28, owing to the unusually high temperatures.
TTEC general manager Curvis Francois said the weather could have caused increased usage of air-conditioning units, which typically account for the highest percentage of household electricity consumption.
Francois said the impact on demand was not unexpected as there was traditionally an increase in consumpt
