With 20 days to go before the official start of winter, residents in the DR, especially in Santo Domingo and Santiago, are dusting off their sweaters and jackets as temperatures drop from the 90s and 80s (30s and 20s Celsius) to the 70s-60s (20s and teens Celsius). Last night winds whistled the trees and morning temperatures unexpectedly dropped to the 60s (20 degrees Celsius) in Santo Domingo. The Weather Department says a cold front is passing by. Noontime temperatures barely increased to 25C (77F), which is unusual for this time of the year. Cool temperatures usually don’t start until the end of December. 1999 has been a year of irregular weather throughout the Caribbean in general. Thus it is not strange that the "winter" season may begin a month earlier. The Weather Department reports that in Santiago de los Caballeros, temperatures of 18 degrees were reported. Reports from mountain towns show temperatures in the 50s (13, 11 and 9 degrees Celsius).
