Memories of a tragic January in Buenos Aires: 43.3 ° C and eleven deaths due to sunburn on the hottest day in history

Orange alert, heat wave, monothematic conversations on the lifts. High temperatures have invaded Buenos Aires' agenda. The heat has taken over the urban dynamic: power cuts in the heat and media advice from specialists to not be a victim of bad weather. The thermal sensation has exceeded forty degrees in the course of a sultry week. Buenos Aires was a hell, but not as much as a record afternoon in 1957, when the thermal sensation was not even a temperature parameter.

On Tuesday, January 29, 57, the absolute maximum temperature was recorded in Buenos Aires: 43.3 °. The chronicles of the time confirm it: "An intense heat wave throughout the country", "The record of the century! 43.3 °", "The porteños continue to sniffle: the tropical day supported the city today. "These are some journalistic clippings of the hottest day in the history of the metropolitan area.

"In a hundred years, the mark of yesterday was not annotated: 43.3 °", was the title of the newspaper The nation the next day. "By early morning, it was possible to predict that there would be a day of embarrbadment. At 9 the temperature in vertiginous ascension reached 33.6 ° and two hours later, it exceeded the 38 degrees ", expressed the first sentences of the newspaper cover Clarin. He also warned that the northwesterly wind contributed to the gradual growth of heat.

At that time, the meteorological station carried out four daily measurements: 3 and 9 am and 3 and 9 at night. According to information provided by the National Meteorological Service, early in the morning the temperature reached 28.2 ° C. Six hours later, on a clear day, the thermometer indicated 33.6 °. The third afternoon, and despite the fact that it is partly cloudy, the record number was decreed: 43.3 ° of actual temperature. At night, again with clear skies, it dropped to 29.4 ° C thanks to the change in wind from the southeast.

This Tuesday was the culmination of the heat wave that began two days earlier. Sunday and Monday, the maximum temperatures were respectively 39.5 ° and 39.3 °. After the mark of 43.3 °, the relief has arrived. The next day the estimates had dropped significantly: the minimum was about 16 degrees, ten less than the minimum of the hottest day in history.

"The torrid day has caused many inconveniences in different parts of this city and the interior of the country," he said. The nation, and he capitalized on the tragic content: "Fatal cases of heat stroke"Indeed, according to the journalistic information of that time, eleven people died alone and nearly one hundred citizens were badisted by social services because of the effects of heat.

The people of Buenos Aires have palliated the climate offensive with light clothing or directly without clothes, as indicated in the video that publishes the General File of the nation with images of workers sweating without rowing. At that time, visits to the beaches of the city were common: Núñez's municipal spa and spa were received on January 29 by thousands of people who wanted to calm down.

The 43.3 ° of 1957 is the record of the highest temperature ever recorded in Buenos Aires. The second highest is shared on December 18, 1995 and January 31, 1935: 40.5 °. The third mark belongs to January 18, 1943 with 40.3 ° of actual temperature.

In the country, for its part, The hottest day in history occurred on January 2, 1920, when the thermometer was recorded at Villa de María, Río Seco Department, north of Córdoba, at 49.1 degrees ..

Among other absolute standards, Rivadavia, in Salta, is the hottest city in the country with an average temperature of 28.8 °. Las Lomitas, in Formosa, also has a record number in Argentina: its average temperature – the equation of maximum and minimum – is 22.8 degrees.