THE 2021 wet season will have more rainfall than usual in most areas, the Met Office said on Wednesday as it officially declared the start of the rainy season.
In a statement on Thursday, the Met Office stated, “Above-normal number of heavy and extremely heavy rainfall days and seven-day wet spells are likely for the 2021 wet season.”
Trinidad and Tobago should brace for flooding, landslips and mosquito breeding.
The Met Office stated, “A wetter than usual 2021 wet season likely, but odds tilt towards drier than average conditions as there is likely to receive less rainfall than usual for June to August. Slightly and moderately higher than normal flood potential exist for all well-known flood prone and some occasionally flooded areas.”
June is likely to be the driest of the three months and September to November is likely to receive much more rainfall than usual.
The country was likely to get a few hot days with maximum temperature greater than 34 degrees Celsius and one or two short duration hot spells. Five or more consecutive hot days were likely during August to October and cities and urban areas are likely to get the most intense heat, the Met Office stated.
This year it is likely to have one to four seven-day dry spells and one to three ten-day dry spells.
The Met Office stated, “Hotter than average maximum day and night temperatures during May suggests, heightened concerns for persons with heat sensitive ailments, vulnerable persons exposed to excessive heat, and heat-stress in livestock and other animals, as well as, in young and transplanted crops.”
Local rainfall was likely to be suppressed during the first week and part of the second week of June; however, near average sea surface temperatures in and around T&T will probably be the main influencer of the local climate in the short term, it added.
