Living in Los Cabos: It’s Hurricane Season

Welcome to Hurricane Season 2010!

Actually, you’re a little late to the party since the season officially started back in about May. But none of us pay attention to that, it’s not until late summer we begin to let our thoughts turn to storms. Now that it’s August we can begin thinking about preparing for this year’s season.

In the interests of making this blog shorter and therefore presumably easier to read I’m going to try breaking the topic into smaller parts and spreading them out over a week. We’ll talk about long term and short term (last minute) preparations, and what to expect during and after a storm. Sounds like a plan to me.

The first important concept is that unlike tornadoes or earthquakes, hurricanes are polite. They inform you that they’re coming days in advance. Although the season officially begins in May and stretches into mid October you really don’t have to worry until mid to late August. That’s when locals begin to keep an eye on the weather; I start checking the National Hurricane Center along with my email in the morning. The site is http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml?epac . Some people prefer other sites, such as weather channel or wunderground, but this is their source. Yes, some of what’s on the National Hurricane Center is techy-talk, which can almost be funny sometimes, but you’ll get the bulletins are they are issued. And anyone can understand the maps showing the predicted path of the storm. For the technically minded, they also provide a handy chart at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/tracking_chart_epacific.pdf that you can download to track the storm’s movements over the course of its life.

Generally speaking you’ll want to adopt this habit as the storm generally forms many miles from Cabo. If you wait for local signs (high surf, changing barometric pressure, storm clouds, huge crowds at the gas station, etc) you won’t have the benefit of the long warning period. The concern of course, is where the main force of the storm is headed. This is always of concern here in Cabo, as we’re nestled in between the cooler waters of the Pacific and the warmer waters of the Sea of Cortez. We’re all hoping the storm stays clear of the Cortez. Why? Well, for a non-meteorologist’s analogy think about a high school football team walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet. That’s what the Sea of Cortez is to a hurricane: a gluttonous source of yummy rocket fuel. If the storm goes in that direction you can expect it to become very strong very quickly.

We usually get the first storm alert sometime in late August; this is almost guaranteed to coincide with Bob’s annual Fantasy Football trip. In the first few days of the alert the prediction of where the storm will make landfall are not terribly precise so you’re almost always going to be in preparation mode; as it gets closer the forecasters are able to be more precise but by then it’s too late for some of your preparations.

Also please bear in mind that our Pacific storms are not the same as the storms they experience in the Atlantic and our construction is vastly different. Yes, there can be damage but as a general rule our storms are not as devastating as those in the Atlantic. They are just a part of life here in the tropics. Yes, there have been very serious cases where there was loss of life and property and they are tragic, but those are exceptions.

One last point: most of those I know who live here would rather be here during the storm in order to be able to handle any problems that may arise. But you may be the exception. The beauty of having so much warning is that it makes it possible to lock up the house and get the heck out of Dodge.

So next topic will be long-term preparations: what to do well in advance of a storm forming, as in: when building your home.

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of REALTY EXECUTIVES Los Cabos. A Certified Home Marketing Specialist, she has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over nine years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine and the real estate co-ordinator for the Los Cabos Now program on CaboMil FM (www.cabomil.com.mx). You can read more of her articles on www.reloscabos.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541.

© 2010 Carol S. Billups

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