Users of the Montego Bay Marine Park are advised that there has been a marked increase in Lionfish sightings throughout the park.

The Lionfish is one of the most venomous fish in the ocean.  Contact with one of its poisonous spines will inflict severe pain, and can lead to convulsions, parlysis and in rare instances, death.

Our weather map lately has been a series of blobs – three or four tropical waves lined up between Africa and Central America, each with its load of rain and thunder and the possibility of a tropical storm.  However, the middle of the Atlantic is covered by a much bigger blob – a huge mass of hot air and Saharan dust.

This dust cloud rose in the north African desert around the middle of June.  By July 13, its head was moving past Jamaica but its tail hadn’t quite left  the African coast.  It’s a monster.

…be careful what you wish for

The Atlantic storm season is off to an early start.  The first named storm – Alex – came almost two months sooner than Ana last year, and a lineup of disturbances across the Atlantic suggest that the forecast of an active summer and fall could be right.  Whether any of these storms land in Jamaica or not, it seems likely that our two-year “long dry” could be over.  In fact, we may soon be complaining about too much water.