Right now, you're probably watching this newscast with the fan on full blast. Or, if you're lucky, your AC unit has been keeping your home cool during these sweltering days.
But the second you step outside, you probably wondered if Belize had somehow turned into God's oven.
Since the start of the dry season in April, it's been a lot hotter than it has been in recent years. That's because the previous years saw La Nina events, while this year, the National MET Service is expecting an El Nino.
For us, that means that the heat is on, but while you may think that global warming has only gotten worse, the senior climatologist at the MET Service says this isn't the first time it's been this warm. Here's what she told us today.
Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, Nat'l MET Service
"Several locations at least to the latter parts of May from the 28th -31st broke the daily records for the month. However, none of those stations that we have around the country broke the overall record for May. For instance, in Central Farm and Belmopan, the record for that particular month is about 42 degrees or 41.7 in Belmopan and that is around 108 degrees Fahrenheit and 106. So, the highest for those 2 months was 39 and so none of them exceeded the 40 thresholds thus far."
Reporter
"So this isn't unprecedented?"
Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, Nat'l MET Service
"No. If I recall correctly, the station at the airport for instance rank 4th, so its the 4th warmest year and in terms of Libertad, it was the 2nd warmest year. So, it is close to what has been the historical extreme, but it has not exceeded that value for the entire month of May. But those 3 particular days starting from 28th May did exceed their daily maximum temperature."
Reporter
"What are some of the factors contributing to these heat waves?"
Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, Nat'l MET Service
"Currently we have been experiencing a high-pressure system and we are currently in a transition phase. Before we were in a La Nina phase that has transitioned to neutral. La Nina typically gives us more rainfall, while neutral, it can be either or and we are currently on path going into an El Nino phase."
"For Belize and much of the Caribbean an El Nino will result in dryer conditions. It should to some extend supress hurricane developments and so that is currently what we are in and as you notice typically this should be our start of our rainy season, but it hasn't really started, because of that transition phase and us being in a high pressure situation and basically there is not just a lot of moisture around currently, even though this normally our wet season."
But if you live in the city and find it hard to move around without sweating, the longest consecutive days of heatwaves were recorded in Libertad and Belmopan - so you can just imagine what those residents are feeling. But even so, Young says while you may think the temperature is well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it's actually not that hot.
Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, Nat'l MET Service
"There are several definitions to determine a hot day, an extreme hot day or even a heat wave and a heat wave event. So us and typically most countries they use the 30th percental. That is just the 10% warmest temperatures that have ever been recorded for a particular station and area. So each station that we have our measurement across the country has a different threshold for what that 90th percental would be. So, if the maximum temperature for a particular day or period exceeds what that 90% value is, for instance Belmopan is around 35, so anything above 35 degrees Celsius would trigger that that's a hot day. If that value is exceeded for consecutive days in some cases, at least 2 consecutive days, then that would be considered a heat wave event."
"So, in May I think Libertad had 4. That just means that during that month there were several days where consecutively at least 2 days met their particular threshold. Some of them can be just 2 days and then there is a break, but some of them can persist longer."
"Most stations at least in the latter parts of May started exceeding their 90th percental and that continued for maybe around like the 24th of May up until the 5th of June and then we had like a break on the 6th before this new heat wave event."
Reporter
"So for example like Tower Hill, they experience the longest heat wave for this year, 26 days and then in Belmopan second longest for this year 21 days. What are people in those areas feeling?"
Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, Nat'l MET Service
"Well, there is a difference between what the actual temperature recorded is and what people feel. There are several different factors that contributes to that. For instance, most persons I have seen circulating on social media that the temperature for a particular location is 102 or 107, because that's what their mobile app is saying, but the highest temperature recorded for the particular month was actually 101.7 and that's because what you feel is actually higher than what is observed due to the humidity. Belize is very humid, so persons would be irritated or feel uncomfortable with the heat, because of the humidity rather than the actual temperature."
