Weather bureau: heat wave may break soon
Hopefully all those teachers at the M.C.C. Grounds will be carrying plenty of water because as we all know, the heat is on. News Five’s Patrick Jones visited the Weather Bureau this afternoon to see if any relief is in sight.
Forecasters at the Belize Weather Bureau say that apart from a few record breaking temperature readings at stations located in different parts of the country, there is nothing out of the ordinary about the blistering heat over of the last couple of days. According to Frank Tench Junior, there are several factors contributing to the spell of hot, dry weather we’ve been experiencing.
Frank Tench Jr., Forecaster
“For one, there was a complex low pressure system situated over southern Mexico which created the lightning situation. Two, you had a temperature inversion, which remains over the area for quite a few days and still remains over the area. And three, we had an anti-cyclone aloof, which contributed to subsidence and dry and is still contributing to the dry weather situation we’ve been having.”
Tench says the situation is compounded by “temperature inversion” which acts like a dome, trapping the heat from the earth’s surface.
Frank Tench Jr.
“The inversion prevents any heat from the earth’s surface to escape completely. In effect it blocks the heat from escaping and the heat energy just re-radiates back down to the ground. That’s why we’ve been having these spells of very hot days.”
Days that were made more uncomfortable by heavy smoke from forest fires in southern Mexico that was blown in by an anti-cyclonic weather pattern.
Frank Tench Jr.
“One satellite picture we looked at on the afternoon of May eleventh you could actually see the thin screen of smoke which originated from forest fires over southern Mexico and portions of Guatemala. The screen extended right across the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize and extended eastward to some parts of the northwest Caribbean Sea. And the reports that we got from our tropical discussions did confirm that there was a screen of smoke over the region at that time.”
But relief is in sight, as computer generated models indicate that rain is a possibility early next week.
Frank Tench Jr.
“In the next two to three days it is quite likely that we could start to observe some, some incidence of rainfall. Why I say that is, there is an upper level throft, which is currently over the eastern Caribbean Sea. We expect this throft to move slowly westward and should reach our area by late Saturday, early Sunday morning.”
Although the clouds may open up and provide some much needed relief, Tench’s advice is: don’t plan on breaking out the rubber boots just yet.
Frank Tench Jr.
“There is a theory that one of our meteorologists came up with that there is something called a false start in the rainy season where you get some rains at this time of year and then it dries out later in May and then the real rain starts late in May. So it could be the start of a temporary relief from the hot dry weather we’ve been having.”
And until there’s a change in the weather, we’ll just have to sweat it out. One final note, remember to always drink plenty of liquids to keep the body from dehydrating. Patrick Jones, for News Five.
In related news Chief Meteorologist Carlos Fuller is presently in Cuba attending a gathering of weather experts preparing for the upcoming hurricane season.
