Met Office: Low chance of ash fall in Trinidad and Tobago

A banana field in the red zone, just north of Georgetown, ST Vincent. The leaves of the plants are bending under the weight of the ash. PHOTO COURTESY SEARCHLIGHT NEWSPAPER, ST VINCENT
A banana field in the red zone, just north of Georgetown, ST Vincent. The leaves of the plants are bending under the weight of the ash. PHOTO COURTESY SEARCHLIGHT NEWSPAPER, ST VINCENT

As of 1 pm on Monday, the Met Office had received no official reports of ash deposits in the country, meteorologist Saide Shakeer told Newsday by e-mail. Barbados and Grenada have both suffered ash deposits from the La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent, which began erupting last week.

"We are currently monitoring all reports from authorised and official bodies as well as atmospheric conditions and factors that may influence the movement of ash either directly or indirectly over our area."

An official release from the Met Office said the probability of the country being significantly affected by ashfall is 20 per cent. There is potential for it to increase if environmental conditions change, and it could be a potential hazard.

On Sahara dust, Shakeer said there is a moderate concentration in the atmosphere.

"There have been several dust plumes fluctuating in concentrations pulsing across the Atlantic for this dry season."

She said people who may be affected by the dust should take the necessary precautions.

The recorded rainfall at Piarco for April, as of 2pm on April 11, was 25.4mm. The average rainfall for April is 58.8mm.

For 2021 thus far, February and March exceeded the average, with February yielding 130.4 per cent more than usual and March 467 per cent.

On the Water and Sewerage Authority's (Wasa) Facebook page the reservoir level for the Caroni/ Arena dam is recorded as 87 per cent; Hollis is at 60.65 per cent; Hillsborough (Tobago) is at 76.27 per cent; and Navet at 92.28 per cent.

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"Met Office: Low chance of ash fall in Trinidad and Tobago"

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