Crazy weather continues to plague Caribbean
If you are watching this newscast on one of Belize’s many cable systems, chances are there is one button on the remote that’s received more than its share of use: that is the Weather Channel. This morning News 5’s Jacqueline Woods asked the experts at our own weather bureau to explain just why it is that so many hurricanes are crawling all over the map.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Experts say a large area of warm sea surface temperatures is primarily responsible for what is being described as a very active hurricane season. Although the season does not end until November thirtieth, already there have been twelve named storms this year. Most of these systems quickly formed in the far Atlantic and predicting projected paths have been a challenge for forecasters tracking the systems.
Frank Tench, Weather Forecaster
“No two storms behave in the same way and some of them do uncharacteristic things and there is a certain amount of uncertainty when you are dealing with tropical cyclones in general. Also some of the atmospheric conditions have sort of bedevilled the forecast that have been put out by the forecasters.”
Belize’s peak hurricane season is between September and October. According to Meteorologist Frank Tench Jr, this is the time of the year we should see tropical systems forming in the central and western Caribbean Sea, but so far things have been quiet.
Frank Tench Jr, Weather Forecaster
“I would say we still have to be concerned and keep our guards up because as we said historically, these are the two months which Belize has had its highest incidents of tropical storms and hurricanes. One of the most devastating hurricanes that hit Belize in 1961 occurred on October thirty-first and upper level conditions are currently favourable for development. What we don’t have is an existing low pressure system that has surface or any tropical wave to provide the trigger for development.”
The only present system that may pose a threat to the Caribbean is tropical storm Lisa, but its future may be short lived.
Frank Tench Jr, Weather Forecaster
“Lisa is a Tropical Storm moving towards the West, which would mean that we in the Caribbean would have to be concerned. However, the Upper Level conditions in the eastern Caribbean don’t seem too favourable for that storm to survive too long. In fact it’s having a hard time surviving as it is. There is no really major change in strength one way or the other and I believe that storm would probably dissipate in a few days time.”
Hurricane experts predicted that this year, there would have been between twelve to fifteen tropical storms. And while the hope is that the country will be spared the wrath of one of these deadly storms, Belizeans are being advised to make sure they do have a plan…just in case. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
This year, in the Caribbean, seventy-one persons have died as a result of hurricane Ivan and it is estimated that over two thousand people have died in Haiti when hurricane Jeanne passed over the island as a tropical storm.
