TT bakes under 36 degree heat

By LEISELLE MARAJ Friday, February 26 2010

YESTERDAY was a scorcher! It was 36 degrees celsius, which according to the Met Office is the highest temperature on record. All over the capital Port-of-Spain people were seen running into air conditioned malls not necessarily to buy items, but to escape the sweltering heat.

Many women walked with umbrellas to escape the heat.

The temperature recorded at the Meteorological head office in Piarco remained at 33 degrees celsius between last Friday and Sunday, until a slight drop of 32 degrees celsius was experienced on Monday. Since then, the temperature has been climbing steadily, reaching 33.7 degrees celsius on Tuesday, 35 degrees on Wednesday and a high of 36 degrees celsius yesterday. The forecast for today is a “cool” 35 degrees celsius. Senior meteorologist at the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service, Ezekiel Sampson said yesterday evening that the 36 degree celsius recording may equal the highest temperature on record. He explained that the high temperatures may be the result of several factors. “It may very well lie in the fact that we have longer days with almost 12 hours of sunshine. There is not much wind so there is little ventilation which leads to more concentrated heating. In the case of today (yesterday), there was not much cloud cover so there was maximum insolation (exposure to direct sunlight) of the earth’s surface,” he explained. Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,116359.html