Ashburn, VA

55° F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

55°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Weather News

Brazil's largest city plunged into night-like darkness in middle of the day

By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Aug. 21, 2019 8:21 PM EDT | Updated Aug. 21, 2019 9:45 PM EDT

Copied

Smoke rises from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. It spread out to as far as the city of Sao Paulo, and it darkened skies, making day look like nighttime on Aug. 19.

On a busy Monday afternoon in Brazil, residents of Sao Paulo suddenly found themselves left in the literal dark. At 3 p.m. local time, cars, businesses and homes were forced to flick on their lights as day became night.

Similar to a phenomenon that has also popped up in areas of Siberia this summer, the combination of wildfire smoke, dense rain clouds and a cold front temporarily wrapped Brazil's largest city in a blanket of darkness.

"The smoke didn't come from fires in the state of Sao Paulo, but from very dense wildfires that have been happening for several days in Rondônia and Bolivia," Josélia Pegorim, a meteorologist with Brazilian TV channel Climatempo said in an interview with Globo. "The cold front changed direction and its winds transported the smoke to Sao Paulo."

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister noted that the shift in the cold front also brought thunderstorms and temperatures that were far lower than average.

"A cold front moved through the area on Sunday causing a wind shift that brought smoke into the area," Leister said. "The Sao Paulo area then had a thunderstorm on Monday afternoon which combined with the smoke to cause the dark skies and poor visibility."

The effects of the the dense smoke made for a surreal spectacle. Video footage shot by Marcus Mendes, a Sao Paulo resident, showed the extent of the darkness that overtook the city in the middle of the afternoon. In an email to AccuWeather, Mendes said the weather there changed rapidly throughout the day.

"I thought we were about to get hit with a heavy storm, but instead of raining it just kept getting darker and darker," said Mendes, a 34-year-old podcast host. There was no thunder and lightning, he added, "which I also thought was weird for what at first looked like a pretty bad storm forming."

An aerial view of Sao Paolo, Brazil, which was plunged into darkness in the middle of the day on Monday, August 19, 2019, due to heavy smoke from wildfires burning throughout South America. (Reuters)

(Reuters)

By 3:55 p.m. local time, it was as dark as night and he shot video of the scene from the window of his high-rise apartment, overlooking the southeast portion of the city near Congonhas Airport.

"When I posted the video online, people asked me if there had been an eclipse," Mendes said. After about 40 minutes, he said, light began to return and rain started falling.

In Rondônia, Brazil, the largest wildfire has been burning for more than three weeks and has sparked a huge cause for concern online. The hashtag #PrayforAmazonia has been trending on Twitter and has garnered over 209,000 tweets as of Wednesday morning.

The growth and widespread impacts of the numerous wildfires in the region have also brought renewed attention to the human impacts on how wildfires start. Data has shown that an increase in droughts, which has been linked to anthropogenic climate change, and deforestation impacts have led to a sharp increase in wildfires in the region.

This week, hundreds of fires burning across the region were sending enough smoke into the atmosphere that NASA satellites were picking it up in images.

Smoke rising into the atmosphere this week from hundreds of wildfires burning across Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and other parts of South America was so heavy it was picked up in satellite imagery. (NASA)

(NASA)

According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, the country has seen a 70 percent increase in fire outbreaks in 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. Experts have argued that there are no natural factors that could increase these wildfire rates and that humans are the only ones to blame.

"This year we do not have an extreme drought, as there was in 2015 and 2016," Ane Alencar, director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, told UOL.com. "In 2017 and 2018 we had a sufficient rainy season. In 2019, we have no weather events that affect droughts, such as El Niño ... There's no way the weather can explain this increase."

However, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has denied those findings, arguing instead that the data was full of lies that could threaten the country's stance in trade markets. Bolsonaro told reporters that the fires are due to farmers intentionally setting blazes for agricultural purposes.

Demonstrators gather on Paulista Avenue with a banner that reads in Portuguese "Get out Bolsonaro" as they protest a cut in the education budget imposed by the administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Wildfires have also increased in Mato Grosso and Para, two other Brazilian states that are notable for their agriculture. While igniting small fires to clear space has been a historical practice in certain areas, the rapid growth and uncontrollable spread of those blazes has been a recent issue.

The National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) in Brazil also traced the darkened Sao Paulo skies to wildfires in Paraguay and Bolivia. The combination of weather factors, along with the impact of human activity, created the perfect recipe for darkness on Monday afternoon.

While the startling darkness lingered over Sao Paulo for just a little more than an hour on Monday, the light being shone on the impacts of deforestation are just beginning to surface. As Bolsonaro continues to push for policies that will only increase deforestation efforts, this may not be the last time cities like Sao Paulo find themselves in need of light.

AccuWeather’s 2019 South America spring forecast
Wildfires force 9,000 to evacuate popular holiday destination
Smoke from Siberian forest fires traveled across Bering Sea to US, Canada
So much of the Arctic is on fire you can see it from space
Report a Typo

Weather News

Health

Saharan dust cloud over the Atlantic may reach Gulf Coast by weekend

May 17, 2022
Weather News

Melting glacier allows researchers to make ‘exceptional’ discovery

May 17, 2022
Weather Forecasts

Scorching heat roasts India as New Delhi soars to 116 F

May 17, 2022
Hurricane

New study finds increase in Atlantic hurricanes linked to cleaner air

May 17, 2022
Weather News

8th sandstorm since April turns everything orange, overwhelms Iraq

May 17, 2022
Severe Weather

Flood threat to focus on 1,000-mile zone of US

May 17, 2022
Astronomy

AccuWeather interviews NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins live from space

May 16, 2022
Astronomy

'Blood Moon' eclipse amazes stargazers across the world

May 16, 2022
Weather Forecasts

Pattern shift to bring turbulent weather to Northwest

May 17, 2022
video

Largest wildfire in New Mexico history burns at the size of Los Angele...

May 18, 2022
video

Study finds cities do not equitably distribute flood-resistant infrast...

May 17, 2022
Health

Collars and chewables to keep your pup free of ticks and fleas

Apr. 28, 2022
Recreation

Try putting one of these on your porch or patio this year

May 12, 2022
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Winter Weather

Denver weather to go from high 80s to snow in a matter of just hours

0 minutes ago

Hurricane

Eye on the tropics: Latest update on potential for pre-season storm

13 hours ago

Weather News

116-year-old ‘ghost tracks’ unearthed following pesky coastal storm

1 day ago

National Park rangers ask visitors to be cautious this summer

1 day ago 1:14

Podcast: Introducing AccuWeather Premium Plus

More Stories

Featured Topic

Local Arthritis Forecast

Featured Stories

Last moments before Mount St. Helens eruption caught on camera Upgrade your spring wardrobe with these statement pieces Now is the time to pick up a new ride-on lawnmower for summer
AccuWeather Weather News Brazil's largest city plunged into night-like darkness in middle of the day
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
© 2021 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK