NOAA

A video that went viral on Tuesday shows a whirlwind on a road in Guanacaste, “formed by the effects of high temperatures on air,” a local meteorologist said.

The coming weeks will bring higher temperatures, thanks to El Niño, before the rainy season sets in.

Last year shattered 2014's record to become the hottest year since reliable record-keeping began, two U.S. government science agencies announced Wednesday in yet another sign that the planet is heating up.

If the trend continues, there could be many consequences, including rising seas for the U.S. East Coast and, possibly, a difference in temperature overall in the North Atlantic and Europe.

The northwestern province of Guanacaste already has registered the highest deficit in rainfall since the National Meteorological Institute began keeping records in 1937.