Sunday coldest night for years: 19.2 degrees

The Met Office says the temperature on Sunday night dropped to a low of 19.2 degree, the coldest temperature in eight years. Meteorological Services climatologist Kenneth Kerr told Newsday while it is not uncommon in January to have low temperatures during the night, Sunday was exceptionally cold. He told the public to brace for more cold nights, as that is the pattern for January in the Southern Caribbean.

"The temperature will continue to be in the 20s in the coming days as January is known for seeing nights that are cold and days that are hot,” Kerr said.

He said in 2003 temperature went down to 19.3 degrees and historically the temperature for January in TT has dipped to 16.1 degrees. Whether there may be a repeat of this in 2019, Kerr said he could not say.

He noted that the controlling factor in this kind of weather is a sub-tropical high pressure system, which is well entrenched in the southern Caribbean region and causing the air to dry out and this restricts cloud formation.

“As a result of this, there is nothing to hinder the sun from heating the earth's surface directly and this why the days are so hot,” he said. Temperatures during the day are going up to 32 degrees.

He explained tha tis also why the nights are cold.

“There are cloudless skies during the night and again there is nothing to inhibit the heat loss from the surface of the earth."

This pattern continues almost unrestricted throughout the night, causing the temperature to drop. These conditions will continue for both day and night temperatures until May.

Kerr said there is rainfall at different locations in TT, but it may not fall where the instruments are recording, at Piarcoso the amount in the country for January so far can't be measured, though there has been minimal rain from time to time.

He outlined that the weather is going to be similar to 2016 and even 2010, two of the more harsh and extreme dry seasons.

He urged people to pay attention to outdoor fires and the sustainability of water supplies, as during the dry season water preservation is important. A good idea is to capture the condensed water from airconditioning units to use for wetting plants and supply other water needs.