The tropical wave located to the south east of the Windward Islands has now formed into Tropical Storm Tomas. Tomas is expected to reach hurricane status in the next 24 hours; its current position is 20 miles to the south of Barbados.  Tropical storm and hurricane warnings are in effect for parts of the Windward Islands. Hurricane warnings are in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Martinique; tropical storm warnings are posted for Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Dominica.

Experts from NOAA expect Tomas to travel to the south of the Dominican Republic Monday/Tuesday so we will continue to monitor the system and of course post up to date information as it becomes available.

With countries’ inability to cope during  natural disasters, Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández  called for the creation of a new global coalition under United Nations auspices of nations at risk of catastrophe to share experiences and knowledge.

This year alone, he told the General Assembly on the first day of its annual high-level segment, there have been 47 floods and landslides; 12 hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons; eight serious droughts followed by fires; seven earthquakes; and volcanic eruptions.

There are two main seasons in the Dominican Republic, the cool season which runs from November to April and the rainy season from May to October.  A lot of people and visitors to the island prefer the cool season as the heat is less intense, the humidity is lower and the rainfall is less frequent.  Temperatures are generally around 29°C during the day and will go down to about 19°C at night.

During the rainy season the rainfall can get very heavy, on the good side though the showers are heavy but short lived. Rainfall can wash out roads and make traveling difficult throughout the island. Rain is most frequent from May to Mid June (although for the last two years the rainy season has in fact been very dry).

In rainy season the average temperature is 31°C during the day and 22°C at night.

As you can see there isn’t that much seasonal variation between temperatures, although the summer months seem to get hotter each year and August can be sometimes unbearably hot, however if you are within arms reach of a swimming pool my advise is to do like the hippos do and just wallow around in some cool water!

Hurricane season runs from June to November and the Dominican Republic lies within the hurricane belt.  It is not possible to predict when a storm/hurricane will occur but with today's hurricane warning stations and systems they can certainly be tracked a lot quicker and warnings be given earlier than in years gone by.