TD14 Expected to Bring Rains over the Weekend!
The National Meteorological Service is monitoring Tropical Depression fourteen. As of six this evening, TD-fourteen was about one hundred miles east of Cabo Gracias A Dios on the Nicaragua/Honduras border and four hundred and seventy-five miles East Southeast of Belize City. Earlier this afternoon, just after one we spoke with Deputy Chief Met Ronald Gordon about this developing system. He says it is expected to bring some rains, particularly for the north if it continues on track.
On the Phone: Ronald Gordon, Deputy Chief Meteorologist
“At six this morning, the National Hurricane Center was giving that system a ninety percent chance of developing into a tropical depression later today or tonight. And then three hours later, at nine the National Hurricane System began to issue advisories on Tropical Depression Fourteen, which as of twelve midday was located at latitude fifteen point four degrees north and longitude eighty point zero degrees west and the depression was moving to the west at eighteen miles per hour with maximum sustain winds of thirty-five miles per hour. The current forecast for that system is for it to continue moving west at least through to the next twelve to twenty-four hours and eventually begin re-curving to the west-north-west and eventually north-west with the potential to make landfall on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula late Saturday evening.”
Andrea Polanco
“What kind of weather can Belize expect as a result?”
On the Phone: Ronald Gordon
“As if this forecast track pan out as the way it is at the moment, we expect that this system will come near enough to us to give us some rainfall over the weekend, starting from tomorrow, Friday and continuing through for much of the weekend. If the system follows the southern periphery of the cone of uncertainty, it would approach the extreme north of the country or be very near to the north of the country at landfall. However, as I mention, there is a level of uncertainty. So, that is the extreme southern periphery and the extreme north is that it could even avoid Yucatan and go through the Yucatan Channel. So, we need to be on the watch out for the potential of heavy rainfall and the possible gusty winds especially over the northern parts of the country if this system takes a more southerly track.”
As we’ve noted that interview was after one this afternoon. Up to news time, TD-fourteen was moving to the west at seventeen miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of thirty-five miles per hour. The National Meteorological Service of Belize advises the public to monitor the progress of this system and listen to official sources for weather updates.
