Hottest Days for 2023 Recorded in May

Like many other Belizeans, you have probably been complaining about the intense temperatures being experienced across the country over the last few weeks. The National Meteorological Service has concluded an analysis of the severe heat. According to that study, the hottest days for 2023, so far, were recorded in May. Interestingly, however, the study reveals that hotter days have been recorded in years past. In fact, most intense heat waves on record were registered as far back as 1995, during an El Nino year. Shanea Young, the Senior Climatologist at the National Met Service, told us more about what they have found from their studies.

Shanea Young

Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, National Meteorological Service of Belize

“Several locations at least to the latter parts of May, from the twenty eight to the thirty-first, broke their 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 forty two degrees or forty one point seven in Belmopan and that is about one hundred and eight degrees Fahrenheit and one hundred and six. The highest for those two months was thirty nine, so none of those exceeded the forty thresholds thus far.”

Reporter

“So this isn’t unprecedented.”

Shanea Young

“If I recall correctly, the station at the airport ranked fourth, so it is the fourth warmest year and in terms of Libertad it was the seconded 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. There is a difference between what the actual temperatures recorded is and what people feel. There are several different factors that contribute to that. For instance most persons I have seen circulating on social media that the temperatures for a particular location is one hundred and two, one hundred and seven because that is what their mobile app is saying, but the highest temperature recorded for the particular month was only one hundred and one point seven. That is because they feel, what you feel is actually higher than what you observe due to the humidity. Belize is very humid so persons would be irritated and uncomfortable with the heat because of the humidity rather than the actual temperature.”