Week 4 – 25 – 30 June 2017
Features: June 25 – 30, 0 Tropical Cyclones
During this week no tropical cyclone, zero, formed within 85 nautical miles of Belize City, and for Belize, this week is following the statistical norm. Historically, June averages about one storm every other year and the Hurricane Season usually becomes more active in August and September. There were two named storms this June. So far the 2017 Atlantic season has been anything but normal.
Unusual 2017 Tropical Activities
The 2017 Atlantic Season started very early with the formation of Tropical Storm Arlene on April 20th and it was the farthest north an early Tropical Storm has formed in the Atlantic. Arlene’s early season Tropical Storm predecessor was Ana in 2003. Ana formed on April 18th as an Extra Tropical Storm and on April 20th was classified as a Tropical Storm. This year’s early season named cyclones include this year’s Arlene, Bret and Cindy. Based on records since 1966, the third named storm does not form until around mid-August. This season we already had the third named storm, Cindy, in mid-June. June storms usually form in the western Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. During the more active months, cyclones usually form in an area called the Main Development Region (MDR).
This year’s Hurricane Bret, a named June storm, formed in the MDR which is far from where cyclones typically develop in June. Bob Henson of Weather Underground reported that in 167 years of records, Bret is only the third known Tropical Storm to develop in the MDR before July 1. Bret’s naming on June 19th is the earliest a storm has formed in the MDR, beating Ana, which formed June 22nd, 1979.
The 2017 Hurricane Season is anything but normal. Bret and Cindy were active storms in the Atlantic Basin on June 20th. According to Colorado State University’s Dr. Phil Klotzbach this is a rare June event because since records began, two Atlantic storms only existed at the same time during June in 1909, 1959 and 1968. Last year 2016, almost made that list with Tropical Storm Bonnie fading on June 4 and Tropical Storm Colin forming June 5.
Belize’s Early Season Storms
The earliest a cyclone formed in Belize and its coastal waters was Arthur in 2008 and Barry in 2007. Both cyclones formed on May 31st .
Barry had no impact on Belize. It formed just south of Chinchorro Bank and east of Ambergris Caye on 31st May as a Tropical Depression and tracked north through the Yucatan Channel into the Gulf of Mexico and was upgraded to Tropical Storm status on June 1st . Barry made landfall near Tampa, Florida as a Tropical Depression. It later tracked over the Florida panhandle passed east of Gainesville and west of Jacksonville, then over Brunswick, Georgia and was later classified as an Extra Tropical Storm. Barry skirted the eastern seaboard of the United States and dissipated on June 5th near Edmundston in Canada.
Belize next early storm, Arthur in 2008. Its impact on Belize’s infrastructure, roadways and bridges, and the livelihood of Belizeans was a major challenge for the new and three months old United Democratic Party Government. Again, Arthur was an unusual Storm. It formed from the remnants of the eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Alma that crossed Honduras into the northwestern Caribbean Sea and combined with a tropical wave and developed into a surface low on 30th May. The low rapidly developed into Tropical Storm Arthur near northern Two Cayes on Lighthouse Reef. Arthur tracked north of our Turneffe Atoll and crossed the barrier reef just north of the northern tip of Caye Caulker.
On 31st May, Arthur made landfall as a 40 knot Tropical Storm around 3:00 a.m. between Northern River and Will Edwards Lagoons in northeastern Belize. Arthur trekked north of Maskall and Carmelita Villages, and directly over Orange Walk Town, before crossing Albion Island, just north of San Antonio Village, and entering Mexico. Maintaining its Tropical Storm strength, Arthur’s path curved in a southwesterly direction over southern Mexico until June 1st when it weakened to a Tropical Depression. For a very brief period Arthur entered and exited the northwestern corner of Guatemala. Twelve hours after it was classified as a Depression, Arthur degenerated into a broad low pressure area near Ejido del Tinto in southern Mexico, around midday on June 1st.
Arthur is still etched in the Belizeans’ memories, it will take a while or perhaps we will never forget the impact of Arthur. Five deaths were directly associated with floods due to Arthur. The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) estimated the total damages caused by Arthur was around 78 million U.S. dollars. Many bridges, including the Kendal crossing on the Southern Highway and Mullins River and Soldier Creek crossings on the Coastal Road, and roads were washed out because of floods due the excessive rainfall. NEMO reported that 714 homes were damaged, and 5,324 persons were impacted by Arthur. Some villages and communities that were hardest hit by Arthur include Mullins River, Gales Point Manatee, Hope Creek, Sittee River, Hopkins, San Lorenzo, San Antonio and Guinea Grass.
Get Ready!!! Nothing appears to be normal about the 2017 Hurricane Season, it only takes one and it does not need to be a big one.
This Week’s Hurricane Tips
Have a Disaster Supply Kit that contains:
1. Water – at least 1 gallon per day per person for 7 days
2. Food –enough for 7 days, should be non-perishable and for your young and old persons
3. Blankets and pillows
4. Clean clothes, rain coats, sturdy shoes
5. First aid kit, with medicines and prescription drugs
6. TOILET PAPER – you’ll be amazed how much you’ll miss this when it is all gone.
Stay tuned for Week 5 Hurricane Facts & Tips
