LIQUID SUNSHINE - Feedback

[Paul Tallet]

It's madness Andy.

I am not sure what there is to go on ...

Remember January 2005 which was sandwiched between the very active 2004 Hurricane Season (remember Ivan?) and the even more active 2005 Hurricane season that started in May ... from recollection it rained almost constantly throughout January 2005 ... and that was shortly after the 16 - 17 inch deluge in November 2004 that turned out to be fatal with serious flooding, landslides, deaths and the destruction of some coral reefs ... that was not a dry season!!

And now we have a dry season? Well to be honest there has been plenty of rain ... the Dutch Antilles (not far away) took a good dunking about 2 weeks ago and there has been plenty of rain in some areas around the Northern Antilles.

It's just so random where the rain falls ... back to the November 2004 rain event, this was an area of rain that simply dumped copious volumes of rain over Trinidad and Tobago for about 18 hours. It moved north east and weakened and hardly affected any other country although it did get recognition as a Tropical Depression only after all the mayhem in T&T became known.

January 2005 ... T&T got wet and most of the rest of the Caribbean was dry.

I reckon that 'unusual' is now becoming usual ... and don't get me started on the temperate zones !!

Regards

[Andy K]

Well Paul, i remember all of those incidents.
Ivan September 2004, Emily June 2005, landslides ...
November 1999 destroyed the road between Charlotteville and L'Anse Fourmi, which took 7 or 8 years to be repaired.
The excessive rainfalls also caused a landslide in my property, a backhoe had to work whole night to clear the road
and i had to build 40 yards of retaining wall.

As for the weather this week, i haven't seen any rainfall since i came up here (April 1st). It is hazy from Sahara dust,
but not one drop of rain. The trade winds are moderate, seas by 2 metres in open waters.

[Paul Tallet]

Hi Andy

Rain is very close to the south ... some very heavy. But as always so far this year Tobago seems to manage to avoid it ... but I feel pretty confident that some reasonable amount of rain will fall over T & T in the next 12 hours or so.

Regards

[Andy K]

Hi Paul,

i will keep you posted. I will return to Trinidad tomorrow afternoon.
Hope to find some of the rain there at least.
My vehicles could do with a serious wash-down

[Andy K]

Upon arrival yesterday in PoS (on the ferry boat), we got a little bit of rain going east on the highway.
In all probably about 10 minutes drive through the rain. Well the van got washed down
And that was it for the rest of the day.
Coming out of the house this morning i saw some remaining moisture on the ground, apparently there
was a slight drizzle sometime during the night. Nothing significant though.

Today it is overcast and it looks as if there may be some rain somewhere, sometime ... we will see.

[Paul Tallet]

Yes Andy

There has been some rain around but it's mostly light.

There is alot of moisture in the air across the south east Caribbean right up as far as Antigua ... the rain is very random.

At least your car is clean

Regards

[Gisela Grell]

Hi guys,

yesterday I received am eMail from a friend living on Tobago. She wrote that it is awfully hot and dry with a lot of bush fires. That doesn't sound like rain???
Cheers
Gisela

[Simon Partridge]

Due in Tobago next Thursday. Had an email from some friends who said it was raining yesterday. Not sure whether to be or but no doubt everything will be green in a week and heh ho at least we won't be working

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Simon

I can confirm that. Two people over there confirmed that it was raining heavily yesterday - one person in Castara and one in the south-west. Boy, does the island need it! Have a great trip!

[Simon Partridge]

Thanks for that Steve, i am sure we will. Looking forward to reading about your trip, when will you be posting reports etc.

[Steve Wooler]

The new reviews will hopefully start appearing towards the end of the month. Earlier if time permits.

[Andy K]

Trinidad seems to be back to "normal". Bright sunshine, heat and dust. No rain in sight today.

[Andy K]

No weather changes so far since my last report from Trinidad. Pictures like the one below become more the norm than the exemption these days in Trinidad: Endless dust and bush fires.

Checking my CCTV cams in Tobago shows me similar conditions there, except for less bush fires.

We could really do with some April showers.

[Andy K]

and here they are, at last.
See below.

[Paul Tallet]

Yes Andy

It looks like there will be some very heavy rainfall for a day or 2 ... some thunderstorms too.

This very large area of moisture is all moving north east and there is plenty more to come.

Regards

[Andy K]

sounds promising, Paul.

The rain has reached Tobago, too. The pic below is from one of my CCTV cams, a bit blurry, but you
can still see that driveway and road are wet

[Andy K]

The weather in Trinidad is a bit "variable" these days, as expected this time of the year.

Yesterday some rain threatened to spoil my fishing excursion, but as i reached Port of Spain coming from Trincity,
that was it for the rain and we had a nice day out at the north coast (near Marqueripe) catching King Makerels.

Today it is hot and dry again, most of the clouds we saw on weekend have disappeared.

[Andy K]

Met. Office Trinidad, Sunday May 23rd, 5 p.m.

"Some parts of South and Central Trinidad have been receiving moderate to heavy rainfall since
4:00am this morning as a result of the visit of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). At
Piarco, Trinidad, the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Services Division recorded 28.3
millimeters in the twelve (12)-hour period between 2:00am and 2:00pm. This rainfall is
considerable in Meteorological terms.
The ITCZ is expected to linger over Trinidad and to a lesser extent Tobago for the next 12 to 18
hours. This could translate into variable cloudy to overcast skies with periods of rain/showers and
the isolated thundershower. The time frame of occurrence for this anticipated rainfall activity
would coincide with pre and official times of Election Day polling.
Having regard to our country’s Election Day on 24 May, 2010, all citizens and interests are
advised to plan their activities and movements with due care and consideration given forecasted
weather conditions as they exercise their democratic rights.
Disruptions owing to localized flooding consequent upon heavy showers or thundershowers
should also be expected. As such Citizens should prepare for this possible eventuality."

... and this is basically what it look like in Trinidad today.

[Paul Tallet]

Ha Ha Ha ... where did they get that from?

The ITCZ is about a thousand miles south of T&T.

Yes, there has been rain but this has been associated with a Tropical Wave and is still affecting the southern parts of Trinidad.

Meanwhile ... the weather is beautiful in the UK

Regards

[Andy K]

Well i don't know what the Met. Office does ... but it does look
very much like a tropical wave at least since yesterday.

Rain "fuh so" ! Everywhere and right through last night until this morning.
It eased up a bit this morning but i guess there is more to come.
What a relief after all those months without water.