Rio hits 115 degrees

It's not just our imaginations. It's been hotter than anyone can remember. And when we do get a little rain it is too little to make a dent in the heat.

Here's an excerpt from an article documenting the record temperatures.

"Cariocas, as Rio natives are called, have been punished by the intense heat and their Marvelous City is now among the hottest places in the world. This Wednesday Rio recorded the second largest thermal sensation on the planet.

According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), at 1 pm, Jacarepaguá, in the city's West side recorded the second largest thermal sensations on the planet: 43.9 degrees centigrade (111 Fahrenheit), losing only to Ada, in Ghana, in the African continent. On Tuesday this number was even higher. Rio reached a thermal sensation of 46.3 C (115.3 F).

The Sahara is not a match. The top thermal sensation of that desert on Wednesday was a mere 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The rain that fell on Tuesday didn't help much. The National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) tells that there hasn't been so hot a February since the institute started its measurement 100 years ago. The average temperature of the first nine days of the month was 39.7° C (103.5° F.)"

We keep water bottles in the freezer and go through them like nothing. Really, the best solution (pun intended) is to drink icy fresh coconut water. Ahhhhhh.

My prediction is that all this heat guarantees us a rainy, rainy Carnaval. That's nothing new. It seems to always pour rain on all those feathers, sequins and sweaty bodies.