Former Acting Chief Meteorologist retires in April

Former Acting Chief Meteorologist Ramon Frutos has been more active than all the hurricane seasons combined. After decades of experience forecasting the weather, his career in public office is coming to an end as he reaches retirement age. The meteorologist sat down with News Five’s Jose Sanchez recently to chat about his experiences with the MET office.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting
A select and important group of people have been given the task of letting us know when the day will be clear enough to have an outdoor celebration and also to warn us when there is the threat of a hurricane. The Meteorologists from the MET Service take that responsibility seriously and Ramon Frutos’ education has led him into a life and career of public service.

Ramon Frutos, Retiring Meteorologist
“My career began on a sunny day in June back in 1974. I had finished an exam in mathematics A level at Belize Technical College, I attended the sixth form there. I went through the four years of high school at the Belize Technical College. Those were memorable years for me, years that I could never forget. My career began one day in June on a sunny morning after that I made my way on the bus to the bus to the airport. I was summoned to come to the Met Office for an interview. I recalled alighting from the bus at the air port cutoff and actually walking in from the highway to the MET office.”

And for thirty four years, Ramon Frutos has made that journey to the MET office, and it comes to an end next month because he is retiring.

Ramon Frutos
“In actual fact it’s thirty-four years ten months because I actually began in June 1974 and I retire of the sixth day of April 2009.”

In the early part of his career Frutos completed a certificate course in weather forecasting in the United Kingdom. He achieved his first Degree in Pennsylvania in the US and returned to the UK to complete a Masters of Science degree. Education was not his only challenge, sharing information that the public could understand was an issue he faced at the MET office.

Ramon Frutos
“For example Isolated. What do you mean by isolated showers. People couldn’t understand that. Light chop to Choppy. Or winds blowing from the South East, what do you mean by that? Instead of winds coming out of the south east we would say the winds will be from the south east. People probably don’t really comprehend some of the language that we were using. I think that was one of the challenges that I had during my career. The other challenge was to try to get information out to the general public during an emergency situation. I think in the past there was a lot of red tapes or a lot of drawback, a lot of points or periods of indecision where the information was not been released the way it should on a timely basis. That has been one of the drawbacks of the past and I think we have overcome that now.”

“I travelled as far as India and Tibet, I went as far as Ghana in Africa, and also to Argentina and other countries in South and Central America. So I’ve been around—and also to the United States.”

Jose Sanchez
“And you went to Jerusalem?”

Ramon Frutos
“Yes, I attended a six week course with the Israeli government in Agro meteorology and hydrology in Israel. We were in Telaviv for six months at a training center there. That was one of the highlights of my travels; to visit the holy land. We had the opportunity to visit many of the special areas or the scenic sites in Israel where history was made, where Jesus actually walked the soil of this earth. We went to Nazareth, we went to Bethlehem. We went to the great wall in Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall
and I was there so that was one of the highlights of my travels.”

“I think I have many years to go but only God knows what he has in store for me. What I want people to remember me as is that I was a person who tried to do the best I could do; impart as much information on the weather and the climate to the general public under the circumstances which we were operating. What I do, I do to the best of my ability and I ensure that what I do makes other people’s lives a little bit easier in whatever lifespan the lord wants me to live more.”

Jose Sanchez
“So your forecast is for bright sunny days?”

Ramon Frutos
“Bright sunny days, light breezy winds.”

Jose Sanchez
“I think that’s a good forecast for Ramon Frutos.”

Ramon Frutos
“That’s right.”

The sun will continue on Frutos for years to come. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.

During his career Frutos spearheaded many national projects including the drafting of the National Integrated Management Policy and Water Bill during his tenure as the Chairman of the Pro-temporary Water Commission. He was there for the extension of the MET building and more recently, he saw the establishment of the new Doppler radar.