The 37th session of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Hurricane Committee met to: review the 2014 hurricane season in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific basins; prepare for the upcoming hurricane season; and improve warning systems for hazards, such as storm surges and coastal flooding.
18 April 2015: The 37th session of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Hurricane Committee met to: review the 2014 hurricane season in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific basins; prepare for the upcoming hurricane season; and improve warning systems for hazards, such as storm surges and coastal flooding.
The Committee covers North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and is one of the five regional tropical cyclone bodies under the WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme. It convened in Costa Rica from 13-17 April 2015, and brought together approximately 50 participants.
According to WMO, Atlantic basin tropical cyclone activity was below average in 2014, with six hurricanes and two major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). However, tropical cyclone activity during the Eastern North Pacific hurricane season was above normal, with 14 hurricanes, and eight major hurricanes, the second highest number of hurricanes on record for the region.
The Hurricane Committee considered retirement and replacement of hurricane names, and provided an opportunity to further strengthen international and regional coordination and collaboration and to maximize scientific and technological advances for new forecasting products.
The Committee also considered, inter alia: coordination within the WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme; coordination in operational aspects of the hurricane warning system and related matters; review of the Committee’s Technical Plan its Implementation Programme; and assistance required for implementing the Technical Plan and Strengthening the Operational Plan.
The designated center for hurricane forecasting in the region is the WMO’s Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) in Miami, US, which will begin to provide storm surge and wave forecasting information with an impact-based and risk-mapped multi-hazard approach. WMO aims to develop and implement Storm Surge Watch Schemes in all tropical cyclone basins. With funding from USAID, the programme aims to expand a coastal inundation forecast demonstration project over the entire Caribbean, although the initial focus will be on the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme aims to minimize the loss of life and damage caused by tropical cyclones through national and regionally coordinated systems that enable early delivery of forecasting and warning systems. [WMO Press Release] [37th Session of the Hurricane Committee Website]