myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Sunday and today, Monday, were VERY wet in western Trinidad.
Diego Martin and Carenage experienced serious flooding yesterday, with debris to be removed by heavy equipment and some damage done to private and commercial property. I did not hear about landslides (yet).
In Chaguaramas, the most western part of Trinidad, we had two one-hour periods of heavy downpour today.

Thanks Andy

Of course, little of this was evident as heavy rain on the sat loops although I have seen alot of moisture around. The moisture rises over land and then you get these localised downfalls over higher ground ... if it is over a very small area it does not seem to pick up these short-lived heavy bursts.

The moisture is now decreasing and there seem to be some very small and light(ish) showers around but there seems to quite alot of cloud in the area.

As I predicted, rainy start to the week but it looks like the improvement is coming during this week.

Regards

Well, let's hope for the best for this weekend and next week. I plan to go to Tobago and do some outdoor
installation work in my yard
As i write this, we get a good downpour again in Chaguaramas.

Hi Paul,
I can only second what Andy said...same in Tobago. Sunday again, (seems to be the Sunday thing recently) it started pouring and went on until later Mon aft. Have not heard of flooding or road problems...just the usual gravel trap left behind by WASA. However today was absolutely gorgeous!! As you said the loops sometimes don't give the true picture. C'est La Vie

Come on people ...

You are in the tropics ... the capital city of the most unpredictable weather in the world.

At least you are sure of some things ... no snow, no frost, no ice (with the exception of your drinks)

And a certainty ... warmth ... stop taking it for granted

Regards

Well yes, i admit, i am a bit spoilt this year by the very dry "rainy" season, and now coming to the end of
that, it starts to rain ...

Paul... i hear you ... and i have to say i feel sorry for you folks in the UK, EU, USA, at least for those who have to go to work, drive on slippery roads, wear thick clothing, pay big heating bills etc.
But you all don't have to drink as fast as we do, your drinks stay cold for much longer

Yes Andy ... thank you for bringing those very interesting facts to my attention

Your only worry is if the trades continue to break down ... that is what can go wrong ... if the trades break down and it becomes cyclonic then the dry season will become a very wet dry season as moisture from South America will move northwards from time to time.

An example of this I think was January 2005 when it remained cloudy over T&T and rained for most of the month.

Oh joy of joys

Regards

Hi Everybody I got here
There was a fair amount of rain on Thursday and Friday but it cleared up quite nicely on Saturday and has remained very nice with just a few puffy clouds.
Cheers David

A little early morning rain but this week has been glorious,the best I've seen in years.The greenery is already browning off.
Well all for now
From SUNNY Paradise
Cheers , David(quaffing at a bottle of Carib)

Hi David,

good to hear that you are back ''home''
I wish you a real good time, a sunny christmas and a happy new year.
I´m sorry that we can´t have our meeting at Tino´s on carneval next year, because we´re taking a short break for this season. We´re spending our holidays 2010 at home in germany

All the best and a big hug from my wife

Peter & Hilde

Here in North / Central Trinidad we are experiencing beautiful weather all along. If there was any rainfall,
it was only for some seconds, not even minutes. Looks like the low pressure over the central caribbean did
not affect us down here. Looking into my security cameras in Tobago shows me a similar weather pattern.

Happy holidays to all of you wherever you are.

Andy

Hi all,well we haven't had any daytime rain for at least two weeks and only light showers in the early am.
All is well,plenty of Carib and White Oak available.....talking of which the sun is over the yard arm
David

Thanks for feedback David.

Lucky Tobago ... there has been a fair bit of rain in Trinidad.

Regards

Hello Paul,

I wonder if you can point me in the direction of anyone who posts pictures from the NOAA 17, 18 and 19 polar orbiters in the T and T area?

I take images from these satellites here in England or Jersey but feel that I might invite the wrong sort of attention doing it in Tobago.

I have a friend working in TEMA (formerly NEMA) and they post some images but not from the low orbiting satellites.

Which ones do you look at? Would be interested to know.

Frank

Hi Frank

My first point of call is ...

http://stormcarib.com/nav/

The above link details the Satellites used by the Carib Storm site which is very useful as it pools all the resources together for the Caribbean ... this may be the one you need if you are watching T & T and good for amateur enthusiasts like me

If things look interesting I then search a little further through the NOAA site and I show a link below that details all the satellites used by the NOAA ...

http://www.noaa.gov/satellites.html

I rarely see the need to look elsewhere.

I am not sure why you feel you would have problems getting access to the Polar Orbiters from anywhere in the world with internet access.

But to get a feel for the weather you can't just rely on satellites ... I also use other sites that give wind forecasts and analyse sea surface temps ... alot of what happens above water is dictated by what is going on in the water, so to speak.

I also get a little feedback from people in T & T which has been very very helpful to me in understanding what the sats are picking up.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Thanks, Paul. I will look at those soon.

No, I shouldn't have trouble getting them via the net. However most of the time I take the A.P.T. signal straight from the satellites as they go by, recording them as a .wav file and decode them later on a PC. Very "hands on" with no intermediary involved. This is a great method for yachtsmen, explorers and others off the beaten track.

I just have reservations about waving the aerial (which is only about 50CM long) etc. about in Tobago!

However the satpix are best for watching fronts etc moving in and not for those pesky "Passing Clouds" - a.k.a downpours that appear from nowhere!

Frank

Good stuff ... I don't think you will have a problem with a 50 cm aerial ... just pretend it's a fishing rod

Regards

Hello all and a Happy New Year
The weather hgas been superb a little rain one morning but otherwise great.
David

Thanks David

Of course you are aware that there is up to 18 inches of snow lying across the UK ... and it's still falling ... and it going to go on and on and on ...

Regards

Hi All, a bad couple of days on Friday and Saturday but all is well now.Sorry about your whiteout
David