The project aims at establishing a sustainable Regional Climate Centre (RCC) for the Caribbean housed at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). By developing and distributing climate and weather products and services, the RCC will support adaptation to climate variability and change and enhance disaster risk reduction capacities in the Region.
The Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) has delivered two major milestones in the Climate Risk and Early Warning System (CREWS) Initiative’s Caribbean Project:
The Caribbean is gearing up for yet another active Atlantic hurricane season, compounded by the continuing challenges and constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of a major volcanic eruption.
A number of heat records were broken in the Caribbean in 2020. Notably, in September, Dominica, Grenada and Puerto Rico broke their national/territorial all-time high temperature records. On September 15th, Canefield in Dominica recorded a daytime high temperature of 35.7°C. One day later, Point Salines in Grenada recorded 34°C. According to the US National Weather Service, Aguirre in Puerto Rico recorded 100°F (37.8°C) on September 17th . The Caribbean Heat Season, the time of the year during which most heatwaves occur, has since 1995 been from May to October since about 1995. The peak period occurs during the months of August and September when high humidity coupled with reduced wind speeds increases heat discomfort.
For the first time, forecasters from across the Caribbean have been participating in a major international atmospheric and oceanic field campaign, entitled, "Elucidating the Role of Clouds-Circulation Coupling in Climate" (EUREC4A). The field campaign is focused on the areas east and south of Barbados, from 20 January to 20 February 2020.
An initiative to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems in the Caribbean was launched on November 20 during the dry season Caribbean Climate Forum (CariCOF) meeting in Barbados. The Caribbean region is highly exposed to high-impact hydrometeorological hazards such as hurricanes and tropical storms, causing floods, landslides and storm surge. In 2017, Hurricane Irma caused massive destruction in Barbuda resulting in the subsequent full evacuation of the island while Hurricane Maria caused devastation Dominica. Barbados suffered from flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Kirk in September 2018.
