Region urged to prepare for very wet season

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum says the early wet season is forecast to bring an increase in wet days and wet spells and that there is no major concern for shorter-term drought in the Caribbean

In its latest bulletin released on Tuesday, the agency said that the increase in wet days and wet spells over the next three months will result in a decrease in dryness, wildfire potential, dust levels as well as an increase in water levels in soils, rivers, and reservoirs.

“However, the potential for flash floods, long-term flooding, and cascading impacts will increase from moderate to high by August in the islands while it will decrease from high to moderate in the Guianas.

“Heat discomfort, brought about by high temperatures peaking during recurrent heat waves and increasing humidity in the air, will likewise increase towards August. A similar increasing trend in tropical cyclone activity is expected, with a busy Atlantic Hurricane Season on the forecast,” it added.

It said that as of May 1, moderate, or worse, shorter-term drought has developed in most parts of Antigua, most parts of The Bahamas, southwest Belize, Cuba, Hispaniola, St Kitts, Sint Maarten/St-Martin.

It noted that moderate, or worse, long-term drought has developed in southwest Belize, along the southern coast of Hispaniola, St Croix, St Kitts, and the west coasts of the Windward Islands.

“There is no major concern for shorter-term drought by the end of August in the Caribbean,” the agency said, noting, however, that long-term drought, by the end of November, may possibly develop in west-central Belize and in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In its climate outlook for the period September to November, the agency said that during the late wet season, the number of very wet and extreme wet spells will reach its annual peak across Belize and the Islands, with a high potential for flooding and flash floods, as well as, cascading hazards.

“This is with the exception of the Guianas, which will be in their long dry season until mid-November. If La Niña event re-emerges, the region can expect to be at least as wet or even wetter than usual, with the potential for a busy second half of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. Heat stress is expected to be high until October due to high temperatures and humidity, particularly during recurrent heat waves,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology said that there will be strong tropical cyclone activity through October.

Climatologist, Cédric Van Meerbeeck,  said that the institute, which began issuing its own hurricane forecast last year, has a high level of confidence that of the 18 storms forecast for this year's Atlantic Hurricane season, eight will become hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

It has divided the hurricane season into three parts: the first and second halves and the peak season, which spans sections of the halves.

Speaking at the regional climate outlook forum for the wet season, Van Meerbeeck said that the institute has medium statistical confidence in its forecast that seven named storms will develop in the first part of the season.

There is high confidence that there will be 13 named storms during the peak season and medium confidence of 10 named storms during the second half of the season.

“The strong consensus is that it will be an active season. To tell you the truth, when I look at the forecast, I don't expect anybody to remember all those numbers but those numbers reflect very strongly the forecast we had in May last year for last hurricane season,” Van Meerbeeck said, noting that the forecast was coming just ahead of the beginning of the hurricane.

“So there is still some uncertainty which is why we also update these outlooks over the month,” he said, noting that the institute will update its forecast in August.

“But you can already see that in the new climatological period, which is 1991 to 2020, there are, annually, about 14 storms of which seven are hurricanes and three end up being major hurricanes.”

Van Meerbeeck noted that Colorado State University on April 8, forecast 17 named storms, including eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

The university suggested a 58 per cent probability that at least one major hurricane will track into the Caribbean this year.

This is compared to the long-term average confidence of 42 per cent.

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