00:00Rain and hailstorms in cities like Bogotá and Medellín have surprised residents.
00:04the last few hours. This comes amidst an El Niño phenomenon that has been ongoing for several weeks.
00:09Breaking records and threatening to force rationing. Were the scientists wrong?
00:15It's not quite like that. Colombia is currently experiencing two phenomena. On the one hand, there is
00:19El Niño, a climatic phenomenon that occurs due to the abnormal warming of the waters of the
00:24Pacific Ocean and that can alter rainfall patterns across the country, increasing the risk
00:29less rainfall, lower flows, and less pressure on reservoirs. And on the other hand
00:34It is the second rainy season of the year, which normally occurs between September
00:39and November, which precisely increases rainfall in much of the country.
00:44These two phenomena seem contradictory, but we'll explain why they aren't. Basically
00:49Because we're talking about two different scales. El Niño is a phenomenon that modifies conditions.
00:54general atmospheric and ocean conditions over several months. It's not like flipping a switch.
00:59that one day ignites and makes it stop raining all over the country. In fact, the very
01:03IDEAM warns that El Niño doesn't mean it will never rain. It simply increases rainfall.
01:08the probability that some regions will experience below-normal rainfall. And
01:12These effects are not the same throughout the territory either.
01:15At the same time, Colombia has its own rainfall patterns. September, October, and November
01:20They are part of the second rainy season of the year, especially in much of the
01:24Andean and Caribbean regions. The director of IDJER, Guillermo Escobar, emphasizes that this type
01:29Conditions may arise during these months, so it is important to maintain measures
01:33prevention in homes and buildings.
01:35It's normal for this to happen even though we're influenced by an El Niño phenomenon. We had
01:42Temperatures were near 24 degrees throughout the morning. Humidity moved into the district.
01:48capital, and that's why these extreme conditions are occurring. We can expect them throughout the month.
01:54October and November, and we need to be prepared.
01:57So, this can happen. El Niño increases the likelihood of less rain during a
02:02period, but that doesn't prevent a very heavy downpour from occurring on a particular day. And that's the
02:07The difference between weather and climate. A hailstorm, a thunderstorm, or a downpour that lasts a few hours.
02:12It's weather. El Niño, on the other hand, is a climatic phenomenon that is analyzed during
02:19months and that modifies the probabilities of how variables such as rain and the
02:24temperature. That's why it's been raining heavily in Bogotá, Medellín, and other cities these past few days.
02:29cities, it does not mean that El Niño has disappeared or that the forecasts were wrong.
02:34According to IDEAM, it is most likely that it will continue to rain for the next few days. Now,
02:39It's one thing for it to rain these days, and quite another to know how the season will end
02:44Regarding rainfall, we'll have to wait and look at the data. How much did it rain, in which regions, and how was it distributed?
02:49Compare it to what normally rains at this time of year and, above all, what happened to the river flows and the
02:54reservoirs. That's what will allow us to know to what extent El Niño managed to modify this season of
03:00rain. Meanwhile, for the next few weeks, even if you see that the day started completely
03:05It's sunny, you'd better take an umbrella.
