Tropical Wave Dumps Historic Rainfall Over Belmopan

Belmopan saw an extraordinary amount of rain over the weekend, the kind of rainfall you would normally expect over an entire month, falling in just twelve hours. Chief Meteorologist Ronald Gordon says the National Met Service recorded more than ten inches of rain across the capital in a very short period, as a tropical wave moved across the country on Saturday. And while the worst of that system has passed, Gordon says Belize is not out of the woods just yet. Another weather system is expected to move across the country in the coming days, which could bring even more rain to already saturated areas.

 

Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist

“We recorded in a matter of twelve hours, Belmopan got two hundred and seventy-three point four millimeters, which is ten point eight inches of rain fall in just about twelve hours, from about midnight to midday. To put things in perspective, the average rainfall for Belmopan is about two hundred and forty-five millimeters for the month of July which is nine point seven inches. So, the Capital City recorded more than its monthly average in just twelve hours. However, there is another tropical system approaching which will cross the country tomorrow or later tomorrow might. That system has already produced some moisture in the area and we will see some rainfall returning, especially over the southern two thirds of the country this morning into this afternoon and we expect those to continue tonight into tomorrow with some showers and thunderstorms expected. Model predictions are going for about two to three inches maximum.”

 

Belmopan’s thirteen-point-one-inch rainfall record was set in 2022.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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