Below normal hurricane season predicted

The effect of Tropical Storm Chantal in the Giruadel area in 2013
The effect of Tropical Storm Chantal in the Giruadel area in 2013

Weather officials on the island have predicted a below normal hurricane season for this year.

“For the 2015 Atlantic season outlook forecasters are saying that the season is going to be below normal: six to 11 named storms…0 to 2 major hurricanes with an average of 12, 6 and 3,” Senior Met Officer, Fitzroy Pascal said while addressing the Annual General Meeting of the National Emergency Planning Organization (NEPO) on Monday.

According to Pascal, the months of August and September are as the most likely periods for tropical cyclone developments.

“And again climatologically, September 10th is the peak, the season officially runs from June 1st to November 30th, but there have been instances where storms form outside this and this year we have had Ana so far which formed somewhere on May 8th,” he noted.

He credits the below normal season to El Niño (warming of the equatorial pacific) which, he said, has positive impact for our area.

“During a non- El Niño year we have a low wind shear and high wind shear during the El Niño year which means that the tropical cyclone development is inhibited during El Niño year,” he explained.

Meantime Programme Officer in the Office of Disaster Management (ODM), Steve Joseph said an early disaster warning program in Portsmouth has focused heavily on a Tsunami hazard.

He stated that recently the system was tested and the two schools were evacuated as part of the test.

Joseph stated that the safe zone for that area, in the event of a tsunami, is the Portsmouth Hospital and the Methodist Church area.

“So all the students would move in that location, but it is a test to show us that all our communities need to have a protocol in place to know once that alert is received, where is the assemble point? Where is the evacuation route? And where is your safe zone?” he noted.

Joseph stated that same is being done in Dublanc and Colihaut.

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