Photo of the day: Threatening yet beautiful

Post by Discovering São Paulo.

Photo: Rainy days in São Paulo

Post by Discovering São Paulo.

VIDEO: Cars swept away by heavy rains in São Paulo

Anyone living in São Paulo will have noticed the sudden downpour of rain yesterday afternoon. Hopefully none of you were unlucky enough to park their cars in the Vila Madalena district.

Check out the video below of what happened to some cars that did.

Video of the rains on Rua Harmonia:

The moral of the story, park at the top of the hill next time! ;)

Why the rain pours down and no longer drizzles in São Paulo

It’s been a rainy week in São Paulo with good bit of storms and lightning bolts. A contradiction one might think in what is known as the cidade da garoa (drizzle city), but the reality is storms are occurring with increasing frequency and rainfall has increased by 30% or 425 mm in São Paulo in 80 years. And whilst the city of sporadic storms and frequent heavy rains is not a catchy name, there is no longer much justification for calling it the drizzle city. On the contrary, the number of days when there is only light rain (less than 5 mm) has reduced.

If we were to calculate this increased rainfall linearly we would be looking at an extra 5.5mm per year and predictions suggest this will continue. If that wasn’t scary enough the rain has not just intensified, it has also become more extreme. There are now storms in winter time too and these days when it rains, it really rains which often also means flooding. And when it doesn’t there can be extended periods with no rainfall at all. In summary, it’s a worst of both worlds scenario. A lose-lose situation.

So what is causing the weather to change in São Paulo? We may not have the solutions but we definitely know the reasons and there are two standout factors.

1 - Urbanisation

São Paulo is a stand out case of uncontrolled urbanisation and therefore a prime example not only of atmospheric pollution but also of the so-called heat island effect whereby temperatures fluctuate across the densely built up areas. If 25% of the territory of the Greater São Paulo area were covered by trees, the average temperature would fall by as much as 2-3ºC. Currently only 10% is covered by trees hence the plans for more green spaces and innovative solutions such as hanging gardens.

2 - Climate change

Amazingly there are still climate change deniers out there and they would do well to spend some time in São Paulo. The increase in greenhouse gas concentrations directly impacts air temperature which increases rainfall.

Worse still the surface temperature of the Atlantic ocean have risen by 1 ºC in the last 60 years from 21.5°C to 22.5°C. And whilst São Paulo is much derided for not having a beach it is a coastal state which means the increase in the rate of water evaporation from the Atlantic ocean has a direct impact on the city even if it lies many kilometres away. The sea breeze typically humid becomes even more moist with the higher temperatures and when it reaches over the hills and on to the plain on which the city sits, the outcome is often rain.

So if you ever wondered why it always rains at the same time in the afternoon during the summer this is because that’s when the sea breeze from Santos hits us. And if you have friends in the south of the city who know it is raining before you do, that is because the sea breeze usually hits the southern end of the city first.

Seen on the streets of São Paulo: surfing the summer floods in Vila Madalena

Sometimes surfing is the only way to travel in São Paulo ;)

I should say upfront that I can't certify the authenticity of this photo but having witnessed the torential rainfall a couple of afternoons ago and knowing the hilly terrain of Vila Madalena I can quite believe that this is a genuine photo!

The alley above is called the "Beco de Batman" or simply "O Beco" and is a grafitti filed alleyway near Inacio Pereira Rocha and Fradique Countinho streets. The area is very hilly and when it rains hard, temporary urban rivers are formed.

VIDEO: How 10minutes of rain in São Paulo can turn a street into a river

São Paulo is pretty much bang on the Tropic of Capricorn and has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate meaning it’s very green or in less endearing terms: it’s a goddam rainy city!

In fact one of its nicknames is cidade da garoa (the city of drizzle) which is mostly inaccurate because the rain when it does come down tends to come down no in a drizzle but in spectacular fashion. There are quite often intense flash showers which rapidly pour vast amounts of water onto the city and then disappear.

Last Saturday at about midday we had one of these showers. It was all over very quickly but here is what Rua Augusta looked like after about 10mins of hard rain:

I’m told that this is quite common at this time of the year as we are entering the rainy season but bear in mind that this is a very central street and probably blessed with above average drainage than most…

Extreme traffic congestion in São Paulo

I recently missed a flight from São Paulo to Madrid despite setting out for the airport three and a half hours ahead of time. This is what my Google Maps Navigation app was telling me as I tried to guide the taxi through the least congested routes:

You can see that Marginal Tietê (horizontal road at the top of the screencap) was not the best place to be at that time (neither was Avenida Veinte Tres de Maio or any of the main traffic arteries for that matter). This is quite normal though and at 18:50 on a weekday it's especially bad.

The fact that it's so normalised is interesting because it starts to change drivers' behaviours. Veja Magazine recently asked Paulistanos to tweet what they do in their cars when sitting out the traffic and the responses included:

I read books
I cut my nails
I kiss my partner
I sing
and of course quite a few people said they tweeted

But the one that stole the show for me was a girl who said that there was no single answer and that she did whatever she would normally be doing at the time, her example was that if it was lunch time, then so be it, lunch it was, and she would eat in the car.

It reminds me of the answer I always give to Brazilian friends when they ask what we do back home in the UK where it rains so often. Well we do whatever we were planning to do, I tell them. Perhaps human ability to accept and adapt depends on the extremity and permanence of the situation which might be why Brits have a thing called road rage and Brazilians stay at home when it rains...

It's 23ºC (73ºF) in São Paulo, turn on your heaters please

Temperature like most other measurements is relative because although feeling hot or cold feels more like a natural instinct than a personal opinion there can great differences in perception. Presumably this is guided by our known temperature range, the maximums and minimums that we our accustomed to experience.

AT least this is the only reasonable explanation for why every Paulistano I have met recently has at some point started complaining about the cold weather and the imminent arrival of winter. “But, it’s not cold here” I’ve been telling them as I struggle to understand how you can simultaneously complain about cold temperature whilst wearing shorts. And it’s not that I keep a temperature conscious social circle. An article appeared on the Folha de São Paulo today which is headlined “Para aplacar o frio, padarias servem cremes e sopas” roughly translated as “Bakeries serving soups, to counter the cold” so I hurriedly rushed on to Google to check the onslaught of Siberian weather up ahead. Here´s a screen shot of Google’s response:

That very effectively allayed my immediate fears but I am now dreading the summer. If they think 23ºC (73ºF) is cold, we’re in for a roasting when the summer comes round!