FOR TODAY'S BELIZE WEATHER, CLICK HERE

WEEKLY WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR BELIZE
Valid: March 12 - 19, 2012

The feature of interest this week will be a relatively stable and fresh Easterly to East-northeasterly airflow over the NW Caribbean, generated by broad west Atlantic High pressure system. This airflow will favour the influx of some moisture, favourable for a few showers here and there. The High Pressure system will weaken as we move into Thursday and Friday of this week, giving way to a seasonally drier and stable SE'ly airflow across Belize and the SW Gulf of Mexico. The fair and dry weather will become much more prevalent and warmer this coming weekend.

We can therefore expect generally breezy, fair and sunny weather through Thursday of this week with some brief daytime showers, especially in the central interior during the afternoon. It will become increasingly warmer and dry as we move into the weekend.

Daily rainfall accumulations during Monday through Thursday of this week will range from 0.10-0.25 of-an-inch, especially over central regions. Daily rainfall totals on Friday through the weekend and Monday next will amount to 0.01-0.10 of-an-inch over the central coast, and minimal elsewhere. In short, the 2012 Dry Season will continue across the nation over the next seven days.

CLICK HERE for the full Belize Weekly Weather Report

The San Pedro Sun

Contemplating Carnaval
Although the paint has dried from the Carnaval festivities a couple weeks ago, the controversy certainly has not. Every year the issue of rampant painting, and the result of damage to person and property is evident. Sure it's lots of fun but there are no limits to it, and the practise of painting is especially damaging and costly to local business owners. Not only do downtown entrepreneurs have to absorb the time and expense of wrapping plastic around their store fronts and expensive billboards to protect them from paint damage, often the painters tear down the plastic and maliciously deface the property anyways. What most likely evolved from the original tradition of tossing flour during this celebration, the practise of throwing paint is not one that many island residents appreciate. Held hostage by a minority of island merrymakers that take great pleasure in the behaviour, many of us plan our days around escape routes to avoid the unsolicited painting to ourselves, our vehicles and whatever it is we may be carrying. With almost a mob mentality that can be frightening to foreigners and locals alike, we watch over our shoulders with the paranoia of being chased down the street by a gang of paint wielding juveniles or drunken adults who are just itching for some violence. Ultimately this behaviour is nothing but a license to vandalize property and terrorize those who choose not to participate.

Blogs

Belize's Benefactor: The Super Cool Baron Bliss
Baron Bliss Day, March 9th, has always been one of my favorite Belizean holidays. There are a few reasons. The timing. The United States so thoughtlessly leaves a huge gap between Presidents' Day at the end of February and Memorial Day at the end of May. A holiday in March is a great idea. His name. Baron Bliss? Amazing. It's so well.... almost what you'd expect in a romance novel. "The Viscount that Loved Me". "The Dreamy Duke". "The Baron Bliss"...can't you see it now? Henry Edward Ernest Victor Barretts was born in England in 1869. He took the familial title of Fourth Baron of Portugal in his early adulthood. At that point, he was the Baron Bliss. As a successful engineer, justice of the peace and man of substantial family wealth, he retired early. In his early forties, he took to the sea. Fishing and sailing were always his true passions. The BB was paralyzed in 1911 and confined to a wheel chair, probably by polio (Jonas Salk's vaccine against the disease was not developed until the mid 1950s). Sir Bliss was looking for warmer climates. After his boat was commandeered during World War One, he sailed to the Bahamas, and then to Trinidad. After a serious bout of food poisoning in that country, he sailed to British Honduras (now Belize) and apparently fell in love. He explored as much as he could but after a month or so, he died. He left his entire estate (estimated at $2 million USD) to the country of Belize in 1926. The Baron was 57 years old. And apparently never set foot on Belizean soil. He was in a wheelchair for goodness sake! The fund, which still exists today, built the Bliss Cultural Center in Belize City. Do you see why I love this holiday? What an amazing story. There is a memorial in Belize City for him right by the lighthouse.

Misc Belizean Sources

VIDEO: Turneffe Islands, Lionfish Awareness
Featuring Ecologic Divers 5 Star Padi Dive Team aboard "Blue Attitude" Today we dive "The Elbow" to take a look at Lionfish populations and size while providing you with some Lionfish Awareness facts. San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize This dive was actaully filmed on New Years Eve, 12-31-11

Caye Caulker Chronicles

Beach Reclamation Under Way
Caye Caulker's East Beach, the one facing the reef, is getting a much-needed face lift. About 35 feet out into the sea worth of beach that has eroded over the past ten years due to storms is now being re-nourished. Hicaquenos could not be happier. We'll have a wonderful beach for Easter and on which to celebrate this year's Lobster Fest.

International Sources

An Underwater Video Survey on Caribbean Reef Sharks
A research team at the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University employed videos to enumerate the number of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) existing within and outside the marine reserves on the Caribbean Sea's Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Over 200 baited remote underwater video (BRUV) cameras were employed to collect data in the form of survey. The BRUV cameras, nicknamed 'Chum cam' were used by the scientists to compare the relative abundance of reef sharks in two marine reserves with that of the two fishing areas. The sharks were found to be more abundant in the reserves.

Treaty Energy Corporation and Princess Petroleum Ltd Sign MOU on oil & gas joint venture
Treaty Energy Corporation reports signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Princess Petroleum Ltd regarding a 50/50 Joint Venture on the Paradise Concession owned by Treaty Energy Corporation. Andrew V. Reid, Chairman and Co-CEO of Treaty Energy Corporation, stated, "We are pleased to announce that our Joint Venture Partner on the Princess Concession in Belize, Princess Petroleum Ltd, has signed an MOU to purchase a 50% position in the Paradise Concession purchased by Treaty Energy in September 2011." Mr. Reid added, "We are elated that Princess Petroleum has joined us in this expansion of exploration inBelize and look forward to beginning evaluation studies on this new concession. As with protocol on the Princess Concession, we plan to use satellite technology in order to narrow our search on potential prospects."

AllEnergy Strikes Oil on Its First Well on Its Belize Concession
AllEnergy Corporation (OTCQB: AFSE) (OTCBB: AFSE) (www.allenergyco.com), a growth-oriented international energy company, announced today that it struck oil on its first well on the Princess Concession in Belize. The first well is expected to be completed and put into production following review by the Belize Regulatory Officials. It is estimated to contain up to 6 million barrels of recoverable oil. The reservoir was determined in size by Satellite Image and Chem-Tool. Pay zone depth was determined from actual drilling and mud logging. Porosity and saturation were gauged visually by outside consultants using statistical modeling with low side parameters, predicting a reservoir of 6 million barrels. This figure could grow depending on the trending of the reservoir.

Prince Harry: 'I was choked up by the way Caribbean is celebrating the Queen'
Prince Harry has finally wrapped up his Diamond Jubilee tour of the Caribbean, and it's been a life changing experience for the young royal. Reflecting on his time abroad representing the Queen, the 27-year-old was as honest and refreshing as ever - exactly the qualities that have won him so much admiration on his trip. The Prince revealed that the rapturous reception from the people of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas had left him "choked up". "I personally had no idea there was so much warmth towards the Queen. To me that's been very humbling," he said. "She's thousands of miles away and yet they celebrated her in the way they did and made me feel so welcome, so I couldn't thank them more."

Corrections and clarifications
A spokesman for Prince Harry has asked to point out that the Prince was not drunk at the street party in Belize pictured last weekend, as may have been suggested by our headline. The Prince sampled local rum, a cocktail and fruit wine but did not drink five beers as suggested.

Want the perfect vacation? Get yourself here
In the instant before my head dunks into the fluorescent Caribbean Sea, somewhere between two tiny islands off Belize, I think: Am I ready for this? A moment later, I'm clutching the side of my kayak, legs flailing as I shovel water out of the seat with a bucket. Then, I'm yanking my soaked self up onto the hull, face first and wheezing. Finally, I roll my bottom half into the seat with an audible thud. It was all as ugly and graceless as it sounds. The wet exit - learning to tip my kayak and then quickly climb back in, without assistance - was the first of many moments in Belize that sounded daunting, very un-vacation-like.


Last edited by Marty; 11/17/12 10:47 AM.