Thanks Paul

[Ian H]

....for your regular posts on this site. Two months ago I had no knowledge of tropical waves and the paths of tropical storms,etc., but I have since had a real education. I would never have known of the resources available without being been primed by your posts here. I, too, now scan the satellite data and even noticed the conditions developing which provided the recent unusual weather events in Tobago just before you mentioned them here.

However, I obviously lack the experience to spot potential situations developing. I saw Gustav, Hanna and Ike traverse the Atlantic and saw Josephine fade away. There is presently an area of bad weather mid-Atlantic but other than that I have no visibility; I've not yet learned to 'read' the African situation. According to the forecast at the beginning of the Hurricane Season, there is still plently of activity to come. Although the northern Caribbean has taken a battering, the area we're particularly interested in has had a quiet week. What do you anticipate for the remainder of the month?

Finally, what effects do depressions to the north ususlly have on Tobago weather, if any? Does any cloud and rain tend to get pulled towards it or is it 'flung' outwards? Is there a 'microclimate' I should be aware of or is the island too small?

[Paul Tallet]

Hi Ian and thank you for your kind words.

If you look back through this section you will find quite a few threads where I have answered many questions as best I can relating to the ITCZ and all manner of things ... there are plenty of discussions in the Liquid Sunshine Feedback string too relating to weather events as they happened.

I am not sure if I have covered the 'micro-climate' but somewhere I have mentioned how Tobago creates it's own weather ... it is quite a mountainous little island and moisture always forms clouds as it rises coupled with the effects of the rainforest ... this always causes localised showers to form as the trades blow over.

Another little phenomenon that I have discussed is the mysterious cloud that can form to the west of Tobago and stay there for long periods ... I speculate that this is caused by the trades splitting to the north and south of Tobago with the south cooling and the north warming and meeting up again to form the cloud at the west side.

All good stuff ... if you haven't done so already ... there is a very good blog by Jeff Masters from Weather Underground who provides an extremely anal analysis of the Tropical weather and these are normally posted during the late afternoon UK time ... you will learn lots there but it is a bit of a buggy website.

Have fun.

Regards