

Tropical Depression #2 which formed just before daybreak Thursday EST has intensified to become the second tropical storm of the season.
The cyclone was upgraded to Tropical Storm Bertha by the National Hurricane Centre at 11am EST.
It poses no immediate threat to the Caribbean.
Forecasters say that in the last six hours, the centre of the storm reformed further north and west of the last position and is expected to travel west-northwest around the periphery of a mid-level high pressure ridge. High pressure ridges tend to steer weak cyclones.
Dan Brown, a specialist at the National Hurricane Centre says, it is expected to stay on this course for the next two to three days. By that time some computer models are forecasting that a weakness will develop in the ridge which will act as a doorway through which the storm will swing northward and if the ridge does weaken - as forecasted - it will steer the storm away from the Caribbean island chain.
Earlier, some models indicated that it would brush the islands in the northeast Caribbean.
The forecast does not ancticipate - at this time - that Bertha will become a hurricane but will become a very strong tropical storm eaching wind speeds of about 60mph.
At 11am, Bertha was estimated to be near 13.3 north and 24.7 west or about 190
miles (310km) south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.
Bertha is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph (22 km/hr) with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 km/hr) with higher gusts.
Source: www.caribbean360.com

The wave is expected to continue to produce heavy rain and gusty winds over sections of the Leewards Islands on Thursday.
Source: www.caribbean360.com
Hurricane forecasters are monitoring a strong tropical wave which they believe has the potential to become the second tropical storm of this year's hurricane season.Computer tracking models are indicating that the wave will develop into a tropical storm and then curve northward when it reaches mid-way between Africa and the Caribbean.
However, these models update every 12 hours as they recalculate the forecast based on current environmental data such as wind speed and direction at different levels of the atmosphere, Africa dust in the atmosphere, and sea surface temperature among other factors.
If it does develop it will become the first Cape Verde system of the season. It is so named because tropical waves develop over the African savannah in the wet season enter the Atlantic Ocean and quickly develop into a tropical depression around the Cape Verde Islands.
The average hurricane season has two Cape Verde hurricanes which are notorious for their fiercesome strength because they have a wide expanse of warm ocean water from which they draw their power. They also tend to form in August or September when the waters are warmest.
The last Cape Verde system was Hurricane Ivan which struck the Caribbean in September 2004 which formed at an unprecedented low latitude. It killed 63 people in Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago and left more than US$1 billion in damage.
At 2:00am EST, the tropical disturbance was estimated to be near 10.8 north and 16.5 west or about 2465 nautical miles east of the Caribbean travelling west ward at 15 to 20mph.
The National Hurricane Hurricane Centre will update the information every six hours at 2am and 2pm, 8am and 8pm daily. Coordinates may be plotted using a Hurricane Tracking Map.
Source: www.caribbean360.com

Microburst a.k.a Downburst
A downburst is created by a column of sinking air that, after hitting ground level, spreads out in all directions and is capable of producing damaging straight-line winds of over 150 mph (240 km/h), often producing damage similar to, but distinguishable from, that caused by tornadoes. This is because the physical properties of a downburst are completely different from those of a tornado. Downburst damage will radiate from a central point as the descending column spreads out when impacting the surface, whereas tornado damage tends towards convergent damage consistent with rotating winds. To differentiate between tornado damage and damage from a downburst, the term straight-line winds is applied to damage from microbursts.
Downbursts are particularly strong downdrafts from thunderstorms. Downbursts in air that is precipitation free or contains virga are known as dry downbursts; those accompanied with precipitation are known as wet downbursts. Most downbursts are less than 2.5 miles (4 km) in extent: these are called microbursts. Downbursts larger than 2.5 miles (4 km) in extent are sometimes called macrobursts.
A downburst is created by an area of significantly rain-cooled air that, after hitting ground level, spreads out in all directions producing strong winds. Unlike winds in a tornado, winds in a downburst are directed outwards from the point where it hits land or water. Dry downbursts are associated with thunderstorms with very little rain, while wet downbursts are created by thunderstorms with high amounts of rainfall. Microbursts and macrobursts are downbursts at very small and larger scales respectively.
Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
"You are required to ensure that there is an emergency management plan developed for each ministry, department, or statuary body with which you are affiliated and this is intended to be a serious responsibility."
Source: www.cbc.bb

It's with that in mind, that Ms Thomas has encouraged Barbadians to join and actively participate in the District Emergency Organisations in their neighbourhoods.
Source: www.cbc.bb

The WMO Hurricane Committee has retired the names of Dean, Felix and Noel, which were three of the most devastating storms of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. Almost 200 people died after Dean and Noel struck the Caribbean and Bahamas; 130 people died in Nicaragua and Honduras with Felix.
The names will be replaced in 2013 with Dorian, Fernand and Nestor.
Since tropical storms were first given names in 1953, 70 have been retired.
This season’s names are: Arthur, Bertha, Christobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.
Source: World Meteorological Organization (WMO)