The rainy season has officially begun, according to the T&T Met Office.In a statement issued yesterday, Shakeer Baig, senior meteorologist, said rainfall on Monday evening into Monday night was due to the passage of a tropical wave over the Southern Caribbean, signaling the start of this year's rainy season."Rainfall activity due to the passage of a tropical wave or the influence of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), whichever is first, heralds the start of the rainy season each year," the statement said.
"Over the 12-hour period beginning at 8 pm (May 19, 2014), the T&T Meteorological Service recorded 1.6 millimetres of rainfall at Piarco, Trinidad, with higher rainfall accumulations occurring in other localities."He said the Met Office predicted a "near-normal" rainy season which would last for about four to six months.The hurricane season, he added, was from June 1 to November 30 and was expected to be "below average."
"We normally would have between nine to ten named storms and this year we expect three hurricanes out of these," he said.