St. Maarten Weather Information
Present weather situation and forecasts for St. Maarten :
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Detailed weather forecast for St. Maarten
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Please find below some websites with up-to-date information and tracking maps on Tropical waves and Hurricanes as well as a site with step-by-step tips for before, during and after a tropical-related storm(s) or hurricane(s):
Weather Service of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba - http://www.meteo.an
Weather Underground - http://www.wunderground.com/tropical
Caribbean Hurricane Network - http://www.stormcarib.com
National Hurricane Center - http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
SXM Cyclone - http://www.sxmcyclone.com
Step-by-step tips for before, during and after a storm - http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/storm/getready
Hurricane Seasons
The North Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1 and ends on November 30, with the most active months being September and October. However in the last few years which have been very active, we have seen some very early and very late season hurricanes, from Bertha in July '96 to Lenny in November of '99.
St. Maarten has been hit 6 times by hurricanes in the last 20 seasons, 3 of those being major hurricanes. It started in '95 with Luis and Marilyn, Bertha in '96, Georges in '98 and Jose and Lenny in '99. Besides causing major wind damage St. Maarten has been experiencing major flood and slide damage, some thing that we were not used to on the Friendly Island.
Development
Hurricanes develop from a variety of tropical weather disturbances and pass through several increasinlgy intense phases classified as:
- Tropical wave, a cyclic curvature in the Easterlies with surface winds less than 20 mph.
- Tropical depression, surface winds 20 - 38 mph.
- Tropical storm, surface winds 39 - 73 mph.
- Hurricane, surface winds in excess of 74 mph.
Categories
Once becoming a hurricane they are again categorized according to windspeed (wind barometric pressure) in the socalled Saffir-Simpson intensity scale:
- One: winds 74 - 95 mph
- Two: winds 96 - 110 mph
- Three: winds 111 - 130 mph
- Four: winds 131 - 155 mph
- Five: winds 156 -up mph
A category three and higher hurricane is considered a major hurricane.
Hurricane Names
When a tropical depresson becomes a Tropical Storm they are named. There is a list of names that covers 5 years and will be used on a rotational basis. When more storms develop in a given year than the number of names in the relevant list, the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta etc.) will be used to name the subsequent systems. If a storm acquires special noteriety because of its strength, deaths, damage or special reasons, its name may be withdrawn at the request of any member of the agreement at the session of the RA IV Hurricane Committee.
Links
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory Hurricane Research Division
Colorado State University - Tropical Meteorology Project
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