myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi Paul

I did see you are "running aways" from the winter in England, back to Tobago and for a few beers I suppose.
It is a bad storm over southern England and Wales indeed, and it is now moving north-east up to southern Sweden.
But I don´t care as I live in Crete now a days, in Amoudara west of Heralkion! NO SNOW and no real cold weather either!

Paul, I'll be there on Friday the 15th. I hope my local phone is still active. You can try me. See you Phil

Oh Ronald ... the Mediterranean Sea is so cold ... I hope to see you again in Tobago one day. The UK snow was not too bad but it looks like north west Europe is in for a cold Winter ... I am looking forward to my flight home being delayed.

Hi Phil ... I arrive on the 17th ... I have your number somewhere in my phone. My number has not changed. I will be visiting Charlotteville as many times as I can ... be nice to see you again.

Regards

Happy New Year Paul!

Sorry to hear about the really bad weather in Tobago, you maybe will need some extra beers or rum to get happy today!

I´d read that many areas in the northenn range of Trinidad are affected by bad landslides and broken power lines, and as Tobagos nothern part also has many sharp hills, I guess landslides and broken power lines are seen there too.

For me it is normally weather in Crete, between +13C to +18C during daytime, very much better than Sweden! Not much rain at all, and believe it or not, the graas is very green now. It is like someone has painted the groungd, and there are flowers all around, very nice yellow flowers on the ground!
And I have beers to drink here too, and Vodka! Vodka is better than Wiskey and rum, you do not get so sick of that in the same way.

So, all the best until you go home to "sweet but cold England"!

Hello Ronald and thank you for your kind words.

It has improved here ... there has been no rain today but there has also been no sun ... it has been cloudy all day ... very boring.

I have had many beers and many Gins and Rums. The sea is flat the Coca Cola is flat, the Tonic is flat and the Fruit Punch is flat.

I am flat ... I am bored ... in fact I am so bored that I have spent about an hour wrapping masking tape around my bird feeder to stop the pigeons, allowing only the tanagers and bananaquits access to the hidden pleasures of the food I provide.

Well it's the New Year (2018) in Castara and (oh gosh) someone has just let off a firework which caught everyone by surprise.

But ... it's warmer (than Crete) here ... and that is what matters.

Have a good new year Ronald and I hope to see you here again (or even in England) when you are in the mood for it.

Regards

TRAVEL ADVISORY

This is a 'heads-up' to draw your attention to the latest Liquid Sunshine post covering potential travel disruptions to and from Tobago over the next couple of weeks due to extreme weather conditions expected in the UK and Europe over the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Regards

WEATHER ADVISORY ... 20th OCTOBER 2018

This is a heads up to notify you of extreme weather conditions in Tobago.

Please go to the 2018 Hurricane Forum for further details of an extreme rainfall event that is affecting T&T and the south east Caribbean.

Regards

TROPICAL DISTURBANCE APPROACHING THE SOUTH EAST CARIBBEAN THIS WEEKEND

This is a heads-up to those that do not regularly view the Liquid Sunshine and seasonal Hurricane posts.

Tobago can look forward to some poor weather conditions this weekend as a strong tropical wave approaches. NHC are issuing advisories and giving a 40% chance of development.

This is a large system and heavy rain and localised tropical storm / hurricane conditions will occur around the south east Caribbean, but the system may not be classified as a Tropical Storm before it reaches the Islands.

Please see the 2019 Hurricane forum if you want to keep updated.

Regards

Tropical Storm Karen is affecting Tobago and the south east Caribbean

Refer to the 2019 Hurricane forum for more details.

Regards

well the disturbances you posted in Liquid Sunshine on the weekend arrived. Sunday and Monday were dry, hot and sunny but Tuesday was awful. rainfall all day, and heavy with it. lasted well into the early hours. during the evening we were treated to thundery conditions with prolonged lightening storms out over the channel. my comments relate specifically to the SW/Crown Point area but seems to have been island wide.

very high seas with big rollers, even in inshore areas. coupled with a new moon and spring tide there was much mopping and securing of property along the seafront premises. the pelicans came ashore to shelter so i'm guessing the sea conditions were significant !

tuesday was a day of gradually clearing conditions and so far today we are back with hot, dry and sunny. met office yellow alert remains in force - #3 for the week to date. moderate seas with long swells. weather, however, seems set fair again until at least the weekend.

currently, trinidad seems to be more at risk of adverse weather events than tobago but we'll see.

paul

Hello and thank you Paul.

I have mentioned before how surprisingly violent tropical waves can be. There are 2 more on the way by the end of this weekend … hopefully they will be kinder.

Regards

very much so.

a great deal of emergency repair work going on along pigeon point road. the point itself is sandbagged to protect from further erosion. there is reporting of immediate infrastructure works to create a temporary offshore breakwater using varying grades and sizes of rock.

the hazardous seas warning remains in effect with, as you say, probably more to come in over the next few days.

paul

Hello Paul

It looks like the sea swells could stay at varying high levels for the next 10 days. The rainfall from the current tropical wave is mostly over Barbados and St Lucia and the extent of the thunderstorms are very close to Tobago. The next wave will arrive by Saturday and a disturbance is forming further down the line in the tropical Atlantic for early next week.

As for Pigeon Pointless, this is a losing battle. About 15 years ago there was an ice cream parlour opposite the bar near the jetty. Yes … opposite the bar towards the sea. The sea has claimed this area and boulders have been laid to stop any further sea progress … they need to move the bar !!

It is low land and I guess that the sea will overwhelm the area within the next 15 to 20 years. Like many low lying Pacific Islands I believe that Pigeon Pointless will succumb to the rising seas and we should treasure it while we can unless the THA plans to build a fortress there which would ruin it anyway.

The same applies to the Coco Reef where they laid the breakwater rocks very successfully as a deterrent to storm surges to protect their private beach. There is new coral forming on this breakwater, however the private beach is reducing in size and they will need more of that Guyana sand to build up the beach further. Or build a fortress!

In the 20 years that I have been visiting Tobago the tide marks are getting higher every year on every beach.

So the sea defences are ok for times such as this with heavy seas but they will not prevent the rising of the sea in the longer term.

Global warming and the resultant rising seas has been going on for a while. It was checked temporarily by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 but a much more significant volcanic eruption is required to reverse global warming ... this is probably overdue and will be of some other cost.

Regards

Hi Paul

After so many years of dedicated service, I think you deserve a holiday. So, with thanks from so many of us, I totally agree that its not fair on you to be doing all the work you undertake to produce your weekly Tobago forecasts. Being in a total lock-down situation, I don't imagine many tour operators are offering tours or other 'group' situations. So, enjoy your break!!!!

Thank you Steve.

It's been a privilege to do it and I will start it up again as soon as tourism returns to Tobago.

I also promise to bore you all to death with my Hurricane posts later this year. Hurricanes are immune from Corvid-19.

I hope all the last tourists manage to return home safely.

Stay safe … all of you ... and best wishes to all my friends in Tobago, I hope you can all get through this and look forward to your businesses thriving again.

Regards

STORM WATCH

Please refer to the 2020 Hurricane forum for updates on exceptionally severe weather affecting Tobago right now and in the next couple of days.

Regards