Do not forget your umbrella this dry season - Caribbean forecasters warn of a 'wet' dry season !During January to March 2012, "the eastern Caribbean and Guyana are expected to experience
above normal rainfall " according to a quarterly update issued by the
Caribbean Institute
Meteorology and Hydrology.
La Nina, the weather phenomenon widely blamed for flooding rains in 2011, may persist longer
than expected and be of "weak-to-moderate strength" during the early part of the Caribbean climatological dry season of 2012 and thereafter weaken by May.
La Nina increases rainfall particularly over the Guianas, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. This
atmospheric phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean influences wind and rainfall patterns across northern South America and can last for several years. La Nina's counterpart is the more infamous El Nino that is caused by an abnormal cooling of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
A prolonged drought is threatening production of corn, coffee in Argentina and Brazil. Meanwhile
in Colombia, steady rains threaten the worlds top source of high quality coffee beans.
If La Nina persists until the start of the annual Atlantic hurricane season on June 1, then more storms than normal will form in the Atlantic Ocean and track further south into the Caribbean.