The Barbados-based Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) Friday said that as the region goes into the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season and the Caribbean Wet Season, El Niño is strengthening and water around the Caribbean steadily warming.
El Niño is a natural climate pattern defined by the warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, and weakened trade winds. It recurs every two to seven years as part of the broader El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
In its latest Caribbean Climate Outlooks publication covering the period August to October this year, CariCOF said that a very strong El Niño in the Pacific, implies a number of factors including an intense humid heat into the peak of the Heat Season in September, culminating in recurrent heatwaves, especially in the Lesser Antilles and Guianas.
It said also that there will be irregular and less frequent than usual bouts of Atlantic Hurricane Season activity as well as the potential continuation or exacerbation of drought impacts, particularly in Grand Cayman and the Lesser Antilles.