The TT Meteorological Service has issued a yellow-level hot spell alert for TT for the next two weeks.
In a statement, the Met Service said TT warned the public there will be extremely hot conditions predominantly over TT from September 15 to 29.
It said there was an 80 per cent chance that temperatures near or greater than 34 degrees Celsius would continue over Trinidad for this period, while warm-to-hot conditions near 32.5 °C or greater are expected to occur across Tobago.
The Met Service said in cities, urban and built-up areas, the maximum temperatures are expected to be near to or greater than 34 degrees Celsius, and feel-like temperatures, particularly when the winds are calm to light, will likely range between 34-44 degrees Celsius.
It said the hottest time of the day is between 10 am-4 pm.
The Met Service said high temperatures can be hazardous to health, especially to the elderly, sick adults, and young children. Therefore, a proactive approach to lessen the effects of hot spell conditions should be adopted.
It advised the public to wear appropriate clothing, stay hydrated at all times, and keep out of direct sunlight to avoid sunburn. It said people should open windows, vents and doors in their homes to ventilate at times.
The Met Service noted TT is in its heat season, which runs from May to October. It said in general during September, the islands experience mostly hot sunny periods and warm nights. The winds are generally weak but with occasionally moderate strength coming from the east to southeast with wind speeds of 20-30 kilometres per hour.
It said during this September, many climatic features are working together to promote warmer to hotter days. The winds are calm to light, with fewer cloudy periods, which enables greater incoming solar radiation, particularly during the mid-morning to afternoon periods.
These climatic features are: a moderately strong El Nino which generally restricts cloud development; a negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which encourages weak winds across the Caribbean; a warmer than usual Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) east of TT; the apparent local position of the sun at our latitude; and a southeasterly flow of wind from the equatorial region.
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