The weather of course...

[Cdn_Gringo]

I haven't lived here long enough to have enough experience to theorize on my own question.

I remember it was uncomfortably hot Sept - Nov of the year I arrived. I just stepped off a plane from the Arctic so of course I found the climate here hot. There was sufficient rain and some really impressive thunderstorms in the months after my arrival. I remember the 2015 dry spell from March onward.

This year, so far, not as much rain as I would like to see, but it is raining sufficiently to keep the grass green and the plants somewhat happy. The atmospheric conditions though this year are surprising. It may have been dry last April - June but I do not remember it being this hot consistently. Recent temps in the low to mid 30's coupled with humidity is pushing the "feels like" temps into the 40's and it's only May. Is this normal for this time of year, as a general trend year over year?

Those of you with if a much longer history here, do you have the impression that the general climatic trend has changed notably since you arrived?

 

[windeguy]

Where exactly do you live? The past couple of years have been drier than normal in Cabarete. This past winter hard much less rain than normal. Last summer had very little rain. As you mentioned there is just enough rain now to keep things green. Having been here for 13 years full time now, I see the temperature go up from around May through September with more humidity during that period as well.

 

[Mauricio]

When I lived here before (2001-2005) it would start raining in May, lasting till July more or less, January and February never had a drop of rain. Summers were hot, winters nicely warm.

When I came back in 2010 summers happen to be so hot that every summer again I think about moving back. The two air conditioners I would like to buy set me back usd3k, I realized yesterday, so I'm thinking if it's not easier....moving back. The last two years it hardly rained in the rainy season and it has rained in months in which before it would never rain. This year rainy season seems to start as it should, with enough rain in May.

I was talking about the heat with my wife, telling her she should be used to it , having lived her whole life here, even though she lived 5 years abroad. She says it's much hotter than she remembers it was.

 

[Bloomhaven]

The past 2-3 summers have felt hotter to me than previous years, and there has been less rain during May-June. There was a report on Global News (from Canada) recently that each month since January 2016 has set records for high temperatures during that month - I believe it was taking into consideration temperatures around the world. July 2016, according to the report, was the hottest month ever recorded since they started keeping records. Here's the link: http://globalnews.ca/news/2887559/earth-just-experienced-its-hottest-month-on-record/

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

Last year was a mess thanks to El Nino. This summer, still warm, more humid and certainly more rain. However, I don't recall a steady all day rain or a string of days where it rains for more than a few minutes every day for a week. Surrounded by all this water one would expect lots of heavy rain clouds but they just don't form in my area these days. Sept/Oct. 2014 is my most recent memory of a string of decent late afternoon thunderstorms and cooling all day rains.

Earl a couple weeks ago did drop shower after shower with a pause between them for most a day.