Brace yourselves, because, once again, the experts say we're going to see an above average number of storms this hurricane season. The season opens on June 1st but hurricane researchers in the United States and Cuba have already punched the numbers and made their conclusions. Deputy Chief Meteorologist Ramon Frutos today told us what to expect.
Ramon Frutos, Deputy Chief Metrologist
"We have predictions coming out from 3 sources for this hurricane season. The first that came out earlier was from Colorado State University with Professor Gray's team and they are predicting 13 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 intense hurricanes of category 3 or stronger. The Cuban Metrological Service also done a prediction and they are also predicting 13 named storms and 7 hurricanes for the North Atlantic Basin. Yesterday NOAA came out with their predictions and they are going for 12 to 15 named storms and out of these 7 to 9 will be hurricanes and they are expecting 3 to 5 major hurricanes developing in the North and Atlantic Caribbean Basins for this year. So all the predictions are indicating that this hurricane season will be above normal. Belize should always be concerned because we are in the hurricane belt, as we all know, and the Cuban Metrological Service is predicting two named storms for the Caribbean. They are the only agency or organization that are predicting storms for the Caribbean and so Belizeans and Belize should be prepared for any eventuality, especially as we enter the latter part of the hurricane season which begins at the end of August and runs through September and October. We all know as we go into the hurricane season we get into this hurricane mode, or we should. Families should review their hurricane plan, their family's hurricane plan, and all institutions and organizations should review their hurricane plans so in the event that we get an early storm affecting and threatening Belize we are prepared."
Storm names chosen this year are: Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklyn, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katrina, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Philippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, and Wilma.
