That's My Story

At the time I’m writing this, we just got through one of those weeks when it seems 90 percent of the conversation here in Southern Baja had to do with the weather. Still smarting from several slammer hurricanes (chubascos) in 2003, locals and anglers alike spent the week worrying about whether the most recent growler on the radar screen (“Xavier” for anyone checking) would or would not hit the Baja peninsula. It was a nerve wracking on-again-off-again week! Captains and clients eyed the southern horizon nervously each day on the water. “Are those clouds the hurricane or is that just a wall of normal high clouds?” Vacation planners kept hotels, fleets and airlines jumping answering weather-related questions and “what if?” scenarios. “Will I get a refund?” “Will the airlines cancel it’s flights?”

All for naught…this time! The hurricane never hit. Some breeze, a little chop, perhaps a smattering of rain and it was like going to the doctor and finding out all you had in your aching stomach were one too many burritos and uh…a little “wind.” The chubasco veered out into the Pacific then north before blowing itself out over un-populated desert. No flights were cancelled. No fishermen had to “wait-it-out” at the Giggling Marlin. The hotels never wrote a single refund check!

However, folks were understandably nervous. In a land that gets very little rain except when it falls all at once, running and falling water can be extremely destructive. The land can only absorb just-so-much! Drains about as old as the conquistadores that weren’t meant to handle anything more than spilled beer have been clogged with dust, dirt and trash since the previous rainfall. Electricity, gas and water, often taken for granted in the U.S., even in the worst times, don’t have backup systems to deal with emergencies. Roofs made of tin, palapa or other materials only get tested when it rains (never!) and arroyo bridges that get washed out each year seem to take EXACTLY 360 days to fix….just in time for the next storm! If your house gets washed away, there’s no FEMA check in the mail; no disability insurance; social medical program or unemployment check to look forward to! Further, in a land where the tourism dollar makes the wheels go-round, any type of interruption in the height of the season can literally ruin a fleet, hotel or other business.

Technically, in Baja, the “hurricane season” encompasses early June and into October. Now, that doesn’t mean that if you visit Baja you’re in for it. It only means that most hurricanes hit during those periods, but frankly, your chances of running into a chubasco are about as likely as say . . .rain in Los Angeles from December to April. Could happen…most likely not! Frankly, Baja sees the majority of it’s tourism…anglers, divers, vacationers, families, adventurers during those “hurricane” months so it can’t be all that bad.

However, one of the cool things is that technology has now enabled us to keep an eye on things via the internet. It’s amazing how many folks glue themselves to their computer screens if anything ominous shows up on the Baja weather situation. One of the two sites, we use most often are:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

which is the United States National Weather Service’s Hurricane Center. Even the Mexican TV stations use it to predict the path of potential storms and we see the NOAA maps on the Mexican TV at night. The site is great in that it gives regular breakdowns, advisories and discussions of storms identifying them as actual “hurricanes,” “tropical storms” and the like. What’s of special importance is the fact that the site posts maps predicting the path of the storm over both 3 and 5 days time periods showing potential areas of rain and flooding along the course of the storm.

Another site that we use a lot is the “Weather Underground.” The site rocks. It provides specific weather for dozens of major Mexican cities plus gives forecasts for the coming days. Even for fun, this is a handy and fascinating site that can be found at:

http://www.weatherunderground.com/global/MX.html

This site has up-to-the-minute weather info, winds, forecasts, moon phases, photos, radar images, current temperatures, etc. It’s just packed with info that would be helpful even if you’re not headed to Baja! In addition to these sites, there are many fishing/weather sites dedicated to giving you up-to-date info and the numbers are growing all the time. These are just two recommendations.

As I am on the water almost daily, these are great helps. However, in Baja, often the best way to tell the weather is to simply LOOK OUTSIDE! Baja is a vast area with terrain that can vary from mountains to deserts and hills to plateaus, not to mention several thousand miles of coastline and thousands of square miles of attenuate ocean. In all my many years here, I have discovered that there are probably as many micro-climates as there are topographical features. What might be happening in one spot is not necessarily true only a few miles away or even several hundred yards away! I have seen hurricanes turn and go sideways not even spilling a drop. Over the course of a few miles, I have gone from rain, to sun to wind to even fog. Many times, my fishing boat has been getting soaked with rain yet, a boat a quarter mile away never even gets under a cloud!

For instance, folks often ask me about a prediction for “rain” or “thundershowers” in the East Cape, Loreto or La Paz. However, sticking my head out the office window or climbing out on the deck of the boat, it’s as dry and sunny and hot as a toaster! Not a cloud in sight. Wassup? Well, as I figured out one day, the many mountains in these regions are often clouded. Technically these mountains are part of the adjacent city and are getting precipitation. The mountains only a mile outside of La Paz, for example, are technically “part of La Paz” and while it’s visibly raining on their summits, anglers and tourists on the beach are still slathering on the suntan lotion and at the end of the day, I know I’ll still be seeing a lot of lobster-red bodies that never saw a cloud let alone any rainfall! So, despite what you may be reading off the websites, there’s still much to be said for looking outside or calling ahead!