Ivan: Belize still not out of the woods
While a hundred thousand Grenadians try to put their lives back together and two point five million Jamaicans anxiously prepare for the worst, the nation of Belize holds its breath as Hurricane Ivan looks like a near miss. This morning News 5’s Jacqueline Woods visited the Met Office in Ladyville and found that we’re not quite out of danger.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Although most weather models are predicting that hurricane Ivan will continue on a west north-west movement towards Jamaica, local forecasters are still keeping a close eye on the killer storm. Since midnight, Ivan has basically kept on the projected course, but based on track records of past hurricanes, Deputy Chief Meteorologist Ramon Frutos says the country is still not yet out of the woods.
Ramon Frutos, Deputy Chief Meteorologist
?And we have noticed from the records from the First to the tenth day of September and also from the eleventh and twentieth day of September, that historically these storms that form far south they move more on a west north westerly track towards the coast of Yucatan or Belize and Central America.
?We can safely say that Belize will be free of any major impact of Ivan when Ivan reaches a latitude that is parallel or in line with Northern Belize which is approximately between eighteen degrees north and nineteen degrees north latitude. When Ivan reaches nineteen degrees north latitude east of Belize in the western Caribbean, then we can say that we are fairly safe from any major impact of Ivan.?
Hurricane Ivan is being guided by a number of factors including a well established steering current that is moving the storm west north-west. It is also being carried along its present track by a ridge of high pressure across the western Atlantic and a broad trough of low pressure that runs from Central America up into the east coast of the United States in the wake of Hurricane Frances. While the number of hurricanes predicted for this season, has already been surpassed Frutos says Belizeans should not become complacent because we are heading towards the peak of the hurricane season.
Ramon Frutos
?First of you have to realize that we began this hurricane season very inactive. In June we did not have any storms; July we didn?t get any storms, but all of a sudden in August we had almost seven or eight named storms forming and Ivan is the last of these as we move into the first ten days of September. So it is possible that this trend will continue.?
The National Weather Service will remain on twenty-four hour alert until the country is cleared from any potential impact from Hurricane Ivan. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
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