To the delight of the inhabitants of Mérida, the sky became cloudy and the first rain of May fell on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 14. For several Meridans it was only a drizzle but this ended a long streak of 33 days of drought.
However, it was a brief respite because the extreme heat will continue this week. Mérida today celebrated 19 consecutive days of maximum temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or more.
The first rain of May in Mérida fell on the eve of the Day of San Isidro Labrador, who thus responded to the prayers not only of the peasants, who celebrate it every May 15 but even of the people of Merida, as some of them shared in Facebook their joy at the rain.
According to records, it did not rain for 33 days in a row in Mérida. According to the National Water Commission (Conagua) in Yucatán, the previous day it rained in Mérida was April 10: 1.3 millimeters recorded by the Conagua Observatory located in the south of the city and 3 millimeters according to the Management station of the Conagua, in the west of Merida. The stations of the Scientific Research Center (CICY) and the School of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Yucatán (FIUady), located in the northwest of the Yucatecan capital, recorded 18.5 and 25.6 mm, respectively.
Precisely in the northwest of the municipality, the first rain of May fell in Mérida.
After more than a month of drought, it rains in Mérida. The images are from the north of the city. pic.twitter.com/XtWYYscsHr
— Roberto García Hidalgo (@robrtgarciah) May 15, 2024
The people of Merida faced 19 consecutive days of extreme heat, since April 26, mainly due to the second heat wave, which since Friday, May 3, hit Mexico and caused deaths from heat stroke fires and even bird deaths and other wildlife in several states, including Yucatán.
Officially, Conagua reported that the second heat wave ended yesterday Monday in Mexico, but “the advection of warm air from the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea” will generate temperatures above 45°C in Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatán from today Tuesday until at least next Saturday the 18th.
So far, according to Conagua, although there is a cold front in northern Mexico and another will enter the country this Thursday, May 16, none would reach Yucatán, where only isolated rains are forecast for Saturday, May 18th.
TYT Newsroom