Given the prevailing high temperatures across the nation, medical professionals strongly urge people to limit sun exposure and maintain adequate hydration by regularly consuming fluids. They said the importance of prioritising natural beverages like water and coconut water over artificial drinks. During such hot conditions, there may be a rise in skin ailments such as sweat blisters and eczema among children who are not adequately cooled. Hence, experts advise bathing children at least twice daily and allowing them to soak in water for a minimum of 20 minutes to alleviate skin discomfort.
Last year’s monsoon that gave us relentless showers has long passed, but now we are facing another weather extreme; with scorching sunshine and dry weather undoing the wet conditions that marked more than half of 2024.
El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate phenomenon characterised by the periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in atmospheric pressure and wind patterns. It typically occurs every two to seven years and can persist for several months to a year or even more.
In an advisory, the Meteorological Department warned that the Heat Index, the temperature felt on human body, is expected to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the North-western, North-Central, Eastern provinces and Mannar, Vavuniya Moneragala, Ratnapura, Colombo and Gampaha districts. It also advised the public to stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible, check up on the elderly and sick, Never leave children unattended in vehicles, limit strenuous outdoor activities, wear lightweight and white or light-coloured clothing.
The El Nino phenomenon is the main cause of the dry weather nationwide, the Met Department Director General Athula Karunanayake said adding that rain can be expected from March 19 til 23, but the heat will not decrease.
The Met Chief said that the country can expect a slight increase in rain in some areas including the Western, Sabaragamuwa, South, Central, and Uva Provinces from March 21 to 25, but added that these showers would not produce enough rainfall to alleviate the dry weather or the heat. Karunanayake said that the analyses showed that the El Nino effect will last at least until April.
Some 6.5 million litres of water evaporate daily from the 24-square-kilometre Victoria Reservoir, the engineer in charge of the reservoir, Wasantha Ehelapitiya said. The reservoir is currently 80 percent full, with a water level of 432.59 metres out of a maximum of 438.4 metres. Over 17 days, 4.143 million cubic metres of water were released for hydroelectricity, producing 1.691 gig watt hours of electricity.
Outdoor activities
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has urged school principals to postpone sports meets and outdoor activities. However, many schools have already conducted sports events despite the hot weather. The Ministry advised postponing these activities until April 24, which marks the start of the third phase of the first school term.
A primary school teacher of a leading international school in Colombo who wished to remain anonymous said that her school hasn’t postponed any events yet but have cancelled PE classes on account of the hot weather.
She said that she’s aware of sports meets in many schools and said that schools should come up with alternatives because it is still hard to predict when the heat wave will end and that events can be held for shorter periods of time.
A Canadian expatriate who lives Down South said that she prefers the heat to that of her home country. “The rains will come. It’s hot, hot, hot and then suddenly rains. I’m ok with this hot weather as long as I can get afternoon naps and drink water,” she said.
Monsoon cycles
Director General Karunanayake said that El Nino affects Sri Lanka’s monsoon cycles. “Last April we declared an El Nino year by presenting our data to relevant stakeholders. We forecasted that although the South-Western part of the island could experience more showers with the South-Westerly Monsoon, it will be low for the Central Hills. With an El Nino year, more rains are experienced in Sri Lanka’s coasts than the Central Hills”.
The Met Department’s findings showed that there is more chance of rain during the Second Inter-Monsoon (October to November). “As forecasted, there were more rains to the point where we saw floods. But this rainy season extended beyond November; to the whole of December till January,” he said.
During an El Nino year, Sri Lanka receives significantly less rains during the North-East Monsoon. So we started seeing less and less precipitation from February. “During the Inter-Monsoon period, that is March to April, precipitation is below average during El Nino years. As you can see there is less rain these days and this can go on till mid-April,” Karunanayake explained while adding that these weather patterns are also affected by climate change.
The factors affecting Heat Index are; wind speed, atmospheric moisture and temperature, the Met Department chief said. “If we are to experience La Nina after April, it could be a reverse side of El Nino; affecting the upcoming Second Inter-Monsoon that could potentially have low rainfall.”
Environmentalist Melani Gunathilaka said: “Currently we are experiencing an increasing warming of ocean temperature. And as a country located close to the equator, we feel the impact quite strongly in Sri Lanka. The previous El-Nino occurred in 2016 and this current situation was predicted sometime ago.
In 2023, the earth experienced 12 months of temperature 1.5°C hotter than the pre industrial level temperature in record for the first time. All of this points towards the urgent need for governments and corporations to take action and bear accountability for climate crisis.
Business opportunities
Even nine years after signing the Paris Agreement, the global leaders and the corporations have failed to stop burning fossil fuels; the plastic manufacturing is still a growing and the most profitable industry. Unfortunately it looks like there’s more interest in creating business opportunities out of the climate crisis than working towards a just and equitable transformation of systems that prioritise people and the planet over profit.”
