Met officer explains reasons for heavy showers, gusty winds

One of the main reasons for the inclement weather being experienced for the last month or so is a combination of the light or weak level winds and warm mornings.

Chief Meteorological Officer at Piarco, Emmanuel Mulchan, said yesterday that certain parts of the country are in a light regime where light or weak low level winds prevent proper ventilation thus causing the heat to remain close to the surface. Mulchan explained that with the land warm during the morning and the air closest to the land becoming buoyant, it could easily rise. As a consequence, a westerly wind develops, bringing mostly air from the Gulf of Paria over Trinidad. “Where the light easterly flow meets the westerly flow, there is mixing and rising. What compounds the matter is if there are high upper level winds. This will cause condensation and hence cloud formation, ” he said and added that thunder clouds will then develop and this can result in locally heavy showers and gusty winds. “Usually the showers dissipate by late afternoon or as soon as the land cools, and this has been the trend over the last month,” said Mulchan.