LIMA, (Reuters) – Peruvians are surfing, fishing and ditching winter clothes to flock to beaches in Lima as a heat wave continues to upend winter in South America.
“The sun is out constantly, it’s been almost a week with strong sunshine, it feels more like summer,” said Sergio Rodriguez, a surf instructor in Lima. “It has given us more work, people want to surf.”
Rolando Quisca, a local fisherman, also said the heat wave had benefited him, citing an unusual amount of albacore, a fish that lives in warmer waters.
“It’s unusual because it’s been years and years since we’ve seen this amount of albacore,” Quisca said.
Globally, July was the hottest month ever recorded, while the beginning of August has brought shockingly high temperatures to the southern tip of the Americas at a time when the region is usually in the dead of winter.
“We have recorded a temperature of 27.6 Celsius (82F) on a winter day,” said Yuri Escajadillo, a weather forecaster for Peru’s National Meteorological and Hydrology Service, Senamhi.
“You don’t get this in winter, this is record-breaking and has exceeded all historical values for this season.”
Escajadillo said part of the reason for the dramatic temperature spike was warm water along Peru’s coasts brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon. He said the water off the coast of Lima should be 16-17 Celsius (61-63 Fahrenheit) but was currently 20-21 Celsius (68-70). Elsewhere in South America, Santiago has experienced spring-like temperatures in the last week, while northern Chile registered nearly triple-digit temperatures in some areas. In Bolivia, Lake Titicaca is suffering an extreme drought and its water level is approaching an all-time low.
