The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

SPORADIC severe weather over the weekend signaled what a forecaster has called “an early start to the rainy season”.

Duty forecaster Ian McKenzie told The Tribune yesterday there was an estimated 1.44 inches of rainfall from Friday to Saturday.

“We kind of got an early start to the rainy season,” he said in an interview Sunday.

Some parts of the country experienced a downpour and a few instances of cloudy skies over the weekend.

Mr McKenzie explained: “Well the environment you had prefrontal activity coupled with moist and unstable environment. As a result of that, we had bouts of severe weather activity concentrated mainly across portions of the northwest and central Bahamas.”

He added winds were generally out of the southwest.

“That it is a warm flow. So, winds out of the south to southwest. Anything with a southerly component would give you a warm flow, which kind of inputs with this type of activity around this time of year.”

As for weather conditions expected this week, he noted that once the front clears the area drying conditions can be expected.

“So, we would start seeing this from tomorrow notwithstanding that there is still possibly a few lingering showers, possible thunderstorms would mainly be in the vicinity of the frontal boundary.

“So, as the front treks to southeast of New Providence that will be concentrated to the central islands and into eventually the southeast Bahamas and that would be like from Tuesday onwards, but we would see generally clearing from tomorrow across the northwest Bahamas, New Providence area.

“But we do expect a low-pressure system to be north of the area and this would generate some hazardous beaching and boating conditions beginning Tuesday.”