Chief Meteorologist Urges Vigilance Despite Calm Forecast  

As we move deeper into November, many are wondering, are we finally out of the woods when it comes to hurricanes? Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon says not quite yet. While the first cold front crossed last week, a promising sign, he cautions that hurricane season officially runs until November thirtieth, and sometimes storms form even beyond that date. For now, the outlook is calm. Still, he urges the public to stay alert. When asked about the possibility of a storm like Hurricane Melissa hitting Belize, Gordon didn’t sugarcoat the reality. Belize has faced strong hurricanes before, and Gordon notes that major storms typically return every twenty to thirty years.

 

Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist

“It’s too early to say what will happen by the end of the season. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, we know that we are still in the hurricane season, but we had our first cold front crossing which is a good sign last week. And things are very quiet at the moment, so at least within the next seven days we do not expect any systems to threaten us. We do need to keep our public alerted, hurricane season runs from June to November and it finishes November thirtieth and sometimes we do have systems forming outside of the season. So, weather doesn’t end on November thirtieth. But overall, at the moment, things look relatively quiet.”

 

Reporter
“As a meteorologist, what are your impressions of Hurricane Melissa? Do you think Belize will someday see a storm like that?”

 

Ronald Gordon

“We don’t wish for it, but we certainly know that we are in the hurricane belt, so to speak, and there is always that possibility that we will get a category five one day. If you go out into history, we have had strong hurricanes in the past, if you go back into history. Certainly, we do know that for a major hurricane, the return period is about is every twenty to thirty years. So certainly, the last one that impacted us was Hurricane Dean in 2007. It didn’t make landfall directly in Belize, but certainly it impacted the north.”