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August 2019 Weather Summary for Belize

Abnormally dry conditions continued in August 2019 with rainfall being below normal across most of the country. The first day of the month started off relatively dry with showers and thunderstorms being generally isolated. A tropical wave was approaching the area. By the 2nd of the month the wave was located over the Gulf of Honduras and it crossed late in the evening. This supported an increase in moisture which peaked on the 3rd. As a result a few showers affected mainly inland areas that day.

Conditions became mostly dry on the 4th with little to no rainfall across the country. Generally fair weather persisted through to the 7th of the month. The only exception was over the Toledo district at nighttime where a few showers and thunderstorms developed. Otherwise the rest of the country saw only isolated showers or thunderstorms. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) analysis suggests that the second and third tropical waves for the month crossed the country late on the 5th and 7th respectively but most of the activity with these systems was confined to southern Belize.

The fourth tropical wave for August 2019 crossed on the 9th. The approach of this wave supported an increase in moisture on the previous day with a few showers and possible thunderstorms affecting central and northern districts. Moisture increased further on the night of the 8th through early morning of the 9th resulting in some showers, thunderstorms and periods of rain mainly over southern and coastal areas. Although conditions continued cloudy for the rest of the day, showers and thunderstorms decreased.

Showers returned to the Toledo district late night on the 9th into early morning of the 10th but again this activity decreased throughout the day with weather conditions becoming generally fair over most areas. Fair and warm weather then prevailed over the area from the 11th through to the 13th. A weak tropical wave (the fifth for the month) that crossed early on the 13th only helped to support early morning isolated showers over the Toledo district. Relatively dry conditions continued the following two days (14th and 15th) with slightly more activity over southern areas in the nighttime and over inland areas in the afternoon hours. Another weak tropical wave crossed early on the 15th.

Moisture increased slightly on the 16th but showers remained isolated. A further increase in moisture the following day supported the development of a few showers and isolated thunderstorms across the country. This was associated with the 7th tropical wave for the month that crossed around midnight. As a result a few showers continued over the south overnight on the 17th then showers shifted to northern areas in the early morning hours of the 18th. The remainder of the 18th saw a return to generally fair conditions. Mainly fair weather continued on the 19th except for the development of a few early morning showers over the Maya Mountains.

The 8th tropical wave for August 2019 crossed on the 20th. This wave was a bit more active as it was being enhanced by favorable upper level conditions due to a TUTT/low with axis west of the country.  This resulted in a few showers and periods of rain affecting the country. Moisture decreased as the system moved away the following day. Showers occurred in the morning with conditions becoming generally fair by afternoon.

A significant dry spell was then noted from the 22nd to the 29th of August 2019. This period saw mainly fair and warm weather across the country. The 9th tropical wave for the month crossed on the night of the 26th but this system was weak and did not produce any significant rainfall except for a few showers and thunderstorms over the Toledo district. The next tropical wave which crossed early morning of the 28th was also rather weak and inactive with isolated showers and thunderstorm activity confined to the extreme southwestern portions of the country.

The last two days of August 2019 saw a very slack pressure pattern develop over the area. This resulted in very light and variable winds across the country. Subsequently, daytime maximum temperatures soared especially over the mainland. This lead to the development of afternoon showers and thunderstorms over inland and northern areas. Tower Hill in the Orange Walk district recorded 73.6 mm and 65.3 mm of rainfall on the 30th and 31st respectively. This made of for the deficit in rainfall experienced earlier in the month over that station helping it to almost achieve its normal for the month.

Although a total of ten tropical waves crossed the area in August 2019, these were mostly weak and most of the activity associated with them was confined to southern areas of the country. As a result rainfall was well below normal for most of the country during the month. The graph and maps below summarize the total rainfall and average maximum and minimum temperature recorded during the month of August 2019. They also give an indication of how these readings compare to the normal for the month across the stations sampled. As can be seen, rainfall was below normal for most of the country during the month. Tower Hill in the Orange Walk district saw near normal rainfall due to just two days of intense afternoon thunderstorm activity during the final days of the month. Otherwise most of the country saw record low rainfall. It is worth noting the the Airport station recorded its lowest total rainfall for August since record keeping began at this station in 1952. In terms of maximum/daytime temperatures, all of the stations sampled here show that daytime temperatures were warmer than normal during August 2019. A similar conclusion can be made about the nighttime/minimum temperatures across the country, except for Central Farm where nighttimes were slightly cooler than average for the month.

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