BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT is customary for rainfall to occur in December, but it would appear that this year’s December the Carnival Season has seen an excess of rainfall and has left some dubbing it a “Rainy Carnival”.
Individuals paying keen attention to the weather would have realised that every weekend in December, and even some in November, a fair amount of rainfall descended upon the Federation. While particular note was taken about the weekends, considerable rainfall during the week was also observed.
The impact of these showers was such that they forced the postponement of some Sugar Mas’ 42 events and for one in particular - which was held despite the inclement weather - the attendance was paltry and all the artistes scheduled to perform did not get a chance to.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Senior Meteorological Officer at the St. Kitts Meteorological Office, Elmo Burke explained that while it is not abnormal for rainfall to be recorded in December, the number of inches that has been recorded is close to twice the average rainfall for that month.
In December 2012, 2.27 inches of rainfall was recorded, with the average being between three and four inches. And from December 1, 2013 to December 30, 2013, recorded rainfall stood at 7.43 inches.
He said the cause of the excessive rain is a “series of troughs and ridges” - a ridge being an elongated area of low pressure and a ridge being a line of high pressure.
“It was due more so to the troughs. With those, you get more showers and thunder storms associated with them. With the ridges, we get what we consider to be fair weather; they are fair weather systems. However, because they (the ridges) blow over the Atlantic, we find pockets of moisture come along so we would see some showers associated with the ridges, but not as heavy as those associated with the troughs.”
For some, the rain was welcomed, yet for others, it had placed a damper on their plan for “unbridled fun” before the season ends.
The hope of revellers is that - at least until the Las’ Lap Jam is completed - the rain holds to allow all plans for merriment to play out.
The weather forecast for today, issued by the St. Kitts Met Office, suggests that there will be “partly sunny skies today and fair to partly skies tonight with periods of quick passing showers”.
