As the 2026 Atlantic hurricane and dry season progresses, climate and disaster management stakeholders across Belize gathered last week for the 14th iteration of the country’s annual National Climate Outlook Forum, kicking off coordinated preparations for confirmed El Niño conditions that are projected to bring extreme, unpredictable weather to the nation over the coming months.
Held across two days and centered on the core theme of strengthening national disaster risk reduction through accessible, data-driven climate services, the forum brought together a cross-sector coalition of representatives from national government agencies, private sector enterprises, regional climate bodies, and local civil society groups. The convening’s core goal is to align stakeholders on the projected climate conditions for the coming season and outline targeted preparedness actions for the nation’s most weather-reliant industries.
In his keynote address to attendees, Ronald Gordon, Belize’s Chief Meteorologist, emphasized that El Niño has already transitioned from a projected risk to an active, on-the-ground reality, requiring urgent adaptive planning from all sectors. Gordon explained that while El Niño’s most commonly cited impact for Belize is extended, severe dry spells, the phenomenon does not rule out extreme short-term rainfall events that can trigger flash flooding—a warning already borne out by extreme wet weather that struck the nation just one week before the forum.
Beyond hazard projections, the forum fulfills two critical functions for Belize’s National Meteorological Service, Gordon noted. First, it delivers tailored seasonal forecasts for key climate-sensitive sectors, including agriculture, tourism, energy, water resource management, and disaster response, covering all major hazards from drought and extreme heat to erratic rainfall and tropical cyclone activity. Second, it creates a structured space for stakeholders to give feedback on the relevance and utility of the meteorological service’s current outputs, ensuring future forecasts meet the actual operational needs of end users.
“Continuous consultation with our stakeholders is non-negotiable, because it is the only way we can ensure we are delivering information that is actually useful and relevant to their planning and response work,” Gordon told attendees.
In addition to the confirmed El Niño outlook, the forum also addressed an ongoing and rapidly escalating climate hazard for Belize’s coastal communities: an unusually active 2026 sargassum season. Gordon reported that the National Meteorological Service is already issuing weekly sargassum forecasts and targeted alerts for at-risk coastal communities to prepare for mass seaweed beaching events. With sargassum blooms typically reaching their seasonal peak in August, Gordon warned that the most disruptive period of the 2026 season is still ahead for coastal areas across Belize.