-21C ( Below Freezing) in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Until very recently Brazil was basically known by Carnaval, Soccer and the Amazon, but this is changing now.
Brazil now became "A bola da vez", sort of fashionable, hell even Macy's has a hole section dedicated for "Products from Brazil" with soaps, perfumes, cosmetics, pottery, shoes, and clothes from famous Brazilian designers, among other cool Brazilian products. I still need to do a Macy's run to check it out and will write a post about it.
I met this very nice lady on a plane yesterday, and had a great conversation with her mom. They both live in the Miami area. Margie, Libby's mom, told me she lives in the Miami Beach area known as little Brazil where a lot of wealthy Brazilians live and she is very familiar with everything Brazil.
Libby, (wrote a comment on our blog yesterday), told me she sees a lot of wealthy Brazilians who shop at her store, and she said, "Brazilians spend a lot of money in Miami"! Yes, Libby, it's ridiculous, I know, ridiculous as in cool. It is a much needed boost to Florida's hurting economy.
I explained to Libby and her mom that things are very expensive in Brazil, principally electronics and clothes, because, mainly of high import taxes to try to boost the local industry.
But, before I go into my usual endless side tracking obsession, back to talking about Brazil weather :)
Many uninformed people have wrong assumptions, perceptions about Brazil.
The most common misconception is that Brazil is HOT, all of Brazil is HOT like the Amazon.
And that couldn't be further from the truth.
Yes, off course, that are parts of Brazil that are really HOT.
That are parts of Brazil that have very MILD climate, like my beloved and so missed state of Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo for the most part has very pleasant weather, the city of Sao Paulo if you ask me, has awesome weather. Very pleasant, pleasant as in you never need Air Conditioner pleasant.
You will definitely see Air Conditioners in Malls and large office high rises, you know the glass tower type of buildings. But you really don't actually need an A/C to survive.
In Texas and Florida for example, you DIE without an Air Conditioner, at least I would, and Gil wouldn't survive for 10 minutes without A/C in Miami or Dallas.
Hell, we don't even turn our furnace in Rhode Island, ok, we set our thermostat at 50F degrees, and the furnace rarely ever kicks in...yes, our little Cape is super well insulated, and we are hard core winter survivors from Sao Paulo. We enjoy a chilly house, we love to sleep with lot's of heavy blankets. The best heavy blankets we have ever found are from Sao Paulo. You want a good heavy blanket that will last forever, buy Tognato Brand, MADE IN BRAZIL. They are awesome.
We have 3 Tognato blankets, my 1st one, my parents bought me when I was 3 years old. My 2nd Tognato my parents bought me when I turned 18 and my brother and his wife gave me my 3rd Tognato Blanket when Gil and I moved to New England.
I have to say our awesome heavy Tognato blankets have kept us warm and cozy in the coldest New England winters, yes, even without the help of our furnace. :)


A cold winter day in Santa Catarina, Brazil, where my mother was born

Brazil has areas, mainly south of Sao Paulo that get really cold, as cold as New England for example.
Snow happens, but is not so common in many areas of Brazil principally because our winters are dry. We lack the precipitation for snow, not the cold. It gets really cold and if we had more humid winters, you would see a lot more snow in Brazilian winters, including areas of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, that do get cold enough for snow, but don't actually see the white flakes because our winters are so dry.
The city of Sao Paulo had one registered snow fall in the beginning of the last century.
Frosts are very common in Sao Paulo during the winter months.
Santa Catarina yesterday was so cold that one town registered Minus 21 Centigrades.



Entrance to Gramado in Rio Grande do Sul, after light snow

Snow covered woods in the state of Parana, near Curitiba

Snow covered home house in Santa Catarina, Brazil

You can see the report on how cold it got in Santa Catarina yesterday HERE



Vento causa sensação térmica de -21ºC em SC

Em São Paulo

Sirli Freitas/Agência RBS

• Campos de Chapecó (SC) amanheceram nesta sexta-feira cobertos pela geada

A região sul do país voltou a registrar temperaturas abaixo de zero na madrugada desta sexta-feira (8), segundo o Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (Inmet) e do Centro de Informações de Recursos Ambientais e de Hidrometeorologia de Santa Catarina (Ciram).
Em Santa Catarina, o ar frio e seco de origem polar no Sul do Brasil causou frio ainda mais intenso, com o registro de geada de intensidade moderada a forte em boa parte do Estado.
Em Bom Jardim da Serra, no Planalto Sul, a temperatura de -9,2ºC, com o vento de intensidade fraca a moderada (20km/h), causou sensação térmica de -21ºC.

Ray