Temperatures in the Amazon region are expected to exceed their historical average in the next three months. This information was released Wednesday, October 19, by Brazil’s National Meteorological Institute (Inmet) and the National Institute of Space Research (Inpe).
The two Brazilian institutes also foresee below average rainfall in the states of Amazonas and Acre in the next three months. In the rest of Northern Brazil, on the other hand, rainfall is expected to be normal between now and January, according to the document.
The text also informs that the southwest regions of Amazonas and Acre "present the lowest rainfall indices in the last 40 years, less than in epochs such as 1925-26, 1968-69, and 1997-98, heretofore considered the most intense."
According to the document, the sparse rainfall contributed to reducing river levels. "In the analysis of the average levels of the Rio Negro in Manaus between 1903 and September, 2005, one observes that very low measurements were also registered in 1925-26 (a year of El Niño) and in 1963-64.
"In the summer months of 2005, the average levels of the Rio Negro were 1.5 to 2 meters above normal, while, beginning in August, the levels declined to as much as 4 meters below normal."
Agência Brasil