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.
Barbados hosts the first regional launch on 6 February of the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All initiative, which aims to ensure that every person on Earth is covered by an early warning system by the year 2027.
The 63rd Session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council was held from 24-25 November 2022 at the Cayman Islands Airport Authority Conference Facility, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, under the auspices of the Government of Cayman Islands. The meeting focused on several priority areas of the WMO, including the UN Early Warnings for All Global Initiative and the Global Basic Observation Network. During the Opening Ceremony, Keynote Speaker and Chair of the 63rd Council, the Honourable G. Wayne Panton, Premier and Minister of Sustainability & Climate Resiliency, Cayman Islands, stressed that "Enhancing resiliency through national weather forecasting, hydrological services and multi-hazard early warning systems is essential to ensuring small island nations like the Cayman Islands can withstand the predicted impacts of climate change."
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.
