- Title: ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires swelters in heat wave
- Date: 10th January 2012
- Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SWIMMING IN FOUNTAIN
- Embargoed: 25th January 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina, Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA7ZJDDRVDFINKD380P6D0GN2WZ
- Story Text: Argentina's weather service put Buenos Aires on alert Monday (January 09) as the city sweltered in a suffocating summer heat wave with temperatures pushing 100.
Relief for porteños is expected to come on Wednesday in the form of rains and a cool front. But until then, they will be sweating it out.
Heat rolled off the pavement on the city's 9 de Julio avenue, and children cooled themselves off in the city's fountains.
Miriam Andrioli, the head of communications for Argentina's weather service, said the problem wasn't just in Buenos Aires.
Much of the middle of the country and the coast, where most city dwellers head in THE summer, were scorching as well.
"The high temperatures are going to continue with maximum temperatures that could be over 104F (40C) in some central provinces and in the north. On the Atlantic coast in the Buenos Aires province temperatures will be between 88F (31C) and 106F (41C)," Andrioli said.
The hot and dry temperatures might have people suffering in the city, but they've been even harder on farmers in Argentina's legendary Pampas grasslands.
The major food producer is looking at a dismal prospects for the summer harvest, with analysts estimating some 50 percent of corn crops have been charred.
The soy crops, Argentina's main source of income, are also in danger if rains don't come soon.
Andrioli said some help was on the way, but observers weren't sure it would be enough.
"They are expecting precipitation starting tomorrow, Tuesday, in the southern part of the Buenos Aires province. A cold front will be advancing from the north, bringing rain and lower temperatures. But these rains are will of course bring some relief to soy producers," he said.
Meanwhile, health officials recommended people in the city stay out of the sun and keep hydrated.
After the rains, temperatures should stay cool until the weekend, when they are supposed to rise again. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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