Low temperatures bring the chill to T&T

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It was a cold morning across Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.

Official temperatures recorded by the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service dipped to 19.7°C at Piarco and 22.1°C at Crown Point, Tobago overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning.

Other automated weather stations across Trinidad and Tobago recorded temperatures as low as 18.45°C in Penal and other interior areas of the country.

These temperatures are not unusual for Trinidad and Tobago during January and February.

In fact, earlier this month, January 4th, even colder temperatures were recorded across Trinidad and Tobago, reaching 19.5°C at Piarco and several areas including Caroni, El Reposo and Penal dipped to near or below 18°C. The record low temperature for Piarco, Trinidad occurred in January 1964, with a chilly 16.1°C

Cooler temperatures, such as those observed Wednesday night and on January 4, occur when a few factors come together.

These include calm to near calm winds, almost no cloud coverage that allows heat to escape our atmosphere, winds originating from the north to northeast at lower levels of the atmosphere and minimal low-level moisture across the area.

Quite a few took to social media on Thursday, asking, “When are we expecting snow?”

Snow in Trinidad and Tobago is near impossible as the air temperature through much of the atmosphere will need to be at or below 0°C, a feat that has never been achieved in the region beyond the highest elevations of the Dominican Republic, and rain.