My wife and I are hoping to plan to take a holiday of a lifetime to Barbados next August but everyone we meet here in England say that we should not go then because it is the stormy season and it would spoil our holiday. Any advice on this matter would be excellent.

Dave: <BR> <BR>They are right in that it is hurricane season there. But on the other hand, if there is no hurricane, the weather is usually very good during this time of year. The other plus is that it is low season in the islands during this time and prices are usually cheaper and less crowded. <BR> <BR>The question then becomes one of how much of a chance are you willing to take. The chances of a hurricane hitting you directly while on vacation is very low, but if it does be prepared for an experience of a lifetime. Just think though, if you do experience a hurricane, imagine the stories you could tell. I know you get some bad winter storms there in England, but how many of your friends have ever been in a hurricane. <BR> <BR>We normally visit St Martin. We got hit by hurricane Luis in 95 when vsting, but then last November we got our vacation in between Jose and Lenny and had great weather. As for safety by the way, the Caribbean is usually one of the safest places since they build to withstand hurricanes. Still it is very frightening, I don't want to minimize that. <BR> <BR>In the end, it will become your decision to make. <BR>

Barbados encounters fewer hurricances than the islands that are farther north. <BR>Also, although "hurricane season" starts in June, statistically there are far fewer in July than in August (Sept. is the worst) - so if you change your schedule to July you would significantly decrease the odds of a problem.

In general the hurricane season in the Atlanta starts in June - peaks in September - ends in October. If you go to a site such as http://www.wunderground.com/topical you can find all types of information on storms, current, predicted and also historical. In general the weather is fine otherwise in August and the ocean temperature is at its peak. The further south you go in the Caribbean the less chance that you will be hit by a hurricane which are very concentrated storms that do not cover large areas. They are bred as a tropical depressions mostly off of Africa and are classified as hurricanes and named when the winds reach 75 mph. They take almost two weeks to get across the Atlantic and many miss land and they die when they hit cold water or the coast of the USA. The first has been named this year Alberto and you can see its predicted path if you click on tracking/forecast. This will more likely will veer north and die. We tend to travel to the Caribbean in late July or early August. The best places tend to closed in September and October for vacation and maintenance. If you can be a little flexible you can easily see what the risks might be within two weeks before departure by check the site above. It only takes about 150 miles maximum to get out of a hurricane's path. Weather is always a risk at anytime of the year. If it were me I would chance Barbados during the first two weeks in August or better the latter part of July. Prices are also the lowest then and it is an easy flight direct from England. We were just in that area in the Grenadines July 17 to 27 and the weather was beautiful.

I got a kick out of this. While I was still writing, Toby posted a reply about 5 minutes before me which said really the same thing in fewer words.

Hey Louis: <BR>I'm a journalist - we're trained to be succinct. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Hi, <BR> <BR>Just wanted to clarify something..hurricane season in the Atlantic does not end in October but on 30 November.

I stand corrected. Thanks, Sue.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question it really helped us decide and what with the current hurricane blowing through the caribbean I think we will wait until I can get my holiday in June/July when things may be a bit safer and calmer. <BR> <BR>Dave.

Louis - enjoyed your informative post very much - but I believe the link you meant was wunderground.com/tropical, not topical.

Keely -- so right you are. It just proves that I am not very good at typing, spelling or reading. Thank you.