Mērsrags Defeats Liepāja in Temperature Readings — Karosta Prison Experiences Crisis

Latvia is rewriting history again — this time with thermometers. Temperature records for March 11th were broken in ten locations, and of course Mērsrags with its +13.3 degrees is once again trying to prove it's better than Liepāja. Our port's thermometer showed only +6.1 degrees, which is about as much as a hot coffee costs in downtown Riga.

Riga also broke records with +12.4 degrees, but that means nothing since even in winter the air there is so polluted that the warmth comes from car exhaust fumes. While the capital proudly boasts about its degrees, here in Liepāja we know — real records come from sea wind and honest Baltic climate.

The biggest concerns are now in the tourism sector. Karosta Prison guides are starting to worry that if this warmth continues, tourists will no longer feel that authentic atmosphere of horror in the basements. As one local guide puts it: 'If it's +15 in there, what's so terrifying about that? You need at least zero degrees for people to understand why the prisoners once screamed so coldly.'

In the past two weeks, 47 temperature records have been broken, which is as many as there are tram stops in Liepāja. But we're not losing hope — maybe next year our thermometer will show numbers that surpass even Mērsrags' ambitions. Meanwhile, we continue to take pride in having the sea, while they only have swamps.