Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Matthew Samuda, says, “final work to bring Jamaica’s Radar System online for the Meteorological (MET) Service is ongoing and should be completed this very week”.

Addressing the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, during his Sectoral Debate presentation, Minister Samuda said this would ensure that the MET service has the necessary tools for the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season and is not solely dependent on external sources.

The Minister added that changing weather patterns caused by climate change require Jamaica to increase its capacity to forecast weather systems.

“As you may be able to tell, our weather patterns are fluctuating more drastically between periods of drought and heavy rainfall than we have seen in recent times, and we believe climate change is at the heart of this fluctuation”, Minister Samuda noted.

Minister Samuda announced that during this fiscal year, the Government will increase efforts to modernise the MET Service, digitising its operations to provide real-time measurements and reports.

He added that “We expect to have significantly improved our equipment capacity to monitor and predict these systems because of the investments we are making in the Meteorological Service”.

Turning to weather patterns, Minister Samuda said Jamaica is currently experiencing drier conditions, with the MET Service predicting that these conditions will persist, mainly across eastern and central parishes through to July as rainfall probabilities fall below normal.

However, he noted that from August to October, normal rainfall is more likely, especially in central and some western parishes, with no impactful drought conditions likely.

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