15/04/2024

NOAA and U.S. Air Force Reserve Highlight Hurricane Preparedness in Saint Lucia Ahead of Above-Average 2024 Season

By Ministry of infrastructure facebook page

The 2024 hurricane season is fast approaching, and is expected to be an above average season. The El Nino experienced last year will give way to a La Nina in 2024 and this means above normal tropical storm formation is forecasted, in addition to this the Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperature is abnormally high and the two factors (La Nina and warm sea surface temperatures) would produce more tropical cyclones and also more intense Hurricanes. In light of this, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Reserve are hosting a series of events to help Caribbean communities prepare. Saint Lucia has been chosen for the visit of National Hurricane Center (NHC) personnel along with others to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how people can become weather-ready ahead of the hurricane season.
Tours of the Air Force Reserve Command’s “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft will showcase how scientists collect data about hurricanes.
The Atlantic basin hurricane season begins on June 1. During hurricanes, military aircrews fly state-of-the-art aircraft directly into the core of the storm to gather critical data for forecasting a hurricane’s intensity and landfall. This data is sent in real-time via satellite from the aircraft directly to the NHC for analysis and used by hurricane forecasters, there and across the region.
Regards
Andre Joyeux
Director
Meteorological Services