BLOG: OLYMPICS STARTING SOON! A LOOK AT RIO DE JANEIRO WEATHER

The 2016 Summer Olympics get under way Friday evening with the Opening Ceremonies (on 21 WFMJ of course) and I thought I'd do a quick post to bring you up to speed on the weather in that part of the world.Rio de Janeiro is located in the country of Brazil, which of course is in South America. Rio is along the Atlantic coast, and this location plays a big part in Rio's climate. Another huge factor are the mountains that sit just wet of the city.There is not very much variance in weather throughout the year, thanks to Rio's proximity to the coast.It's the Summer Olympics but of course it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere. But Rio's tropical climate is far from wintry. Average highs in the heart of Winter are close to our averages in the heart of Summer in Youngstown!What about the weather over the next couple of weeks? Well in the near term, it looks GREAT...including for the Opening Ceremonies. After a hot weekend, next week could be rainy and cooler.In Rio, wind direction matters a lot. When the wind is out of the west, as it will be over the next few days, air sinks off the mountains. When air sinks, it warms (called "downsloping" and "compressional heating").Wind Saturday:But by Tuesday a more "onshore" flow has taken over and the result will be cooler conditions.There is actually a chance for a decent amount of rain in the vicinity of Rio next week. It may not be in the heart of the Olympic action, but reasonably close. We shall see.