From stronger warning communication to faster regional data exchange, CREWS Caribbean 2.0 made important strides towards helping countries prepare for the upcoming hurricane season and ensure that people across the Caribbean receive earlier, clearer and more actionable warnings.
Between May and August 2026, the CREWS Caribbean 2.0 project advanced efforts to make early warnings across the Caribbean more connected, actionable and people-centred. Work during the period strengthened impact-based forecasting, warning communication, regional data exchange and coordination between meteorological services and disaster management authorities.
Strengthening warning communication and impact-based forecasting
From 5-7 May 2026, a national workshop in the Turks and Caicos Islands strengthened coordination among the national weather service, disaster management authorities, government communications officials and the media. Participants mapped communication flows, identified operational bottlenecks and agreed on measures to improve warning procedures, stakeholder coordination and communication with vulnerable groups. The activity demonstrated a practical model that could be replicated in other Caribbean countries.
CREWS Caribbean 2.0 is supporting a regional shift from forecasting what the weather will be to understanding what it will do, who may be affected and what action should be taken. The Regional Workshop on Impact-Based Forecast and Warning Services (IBFWS) and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), held in Trinidad and Tobago from 26-29 May, represented a regional milestone. Representatives of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and disaster risk management organizations from 17 Caribbean countries reviewed operational coordination and harmonized Standard Operating Procedures. They identified priority improvements, including clearer institutional roles, integration of CAP into warning workflows, impact thresholds and stronger coordination mechanisms. These steps will help countries translate forecasts into clearer, more coordinated and actionable warnings.
Advancing WIS 2.0 and severe-weather forecasting
Reliable, timely data-sharing is the foundation for stronger forecasting and more effective early warnings across the Caribbean. In June, important progress was made towards operationalizing regional forecasting and data-sharing systems.The Caribbean WIS 2.0 Complementary Training Workshop brought together specialists from 16 Caribbean NMHSs to strengthen the systems and skills needed to exchange critical meteorological data across the region. Through hands-on work on configuring WIS 2.0 nodes, automating data exchange and publishing operational meteorological datasets, participants advanced practical implementation of the new data-sharing infrastructure.
A key outcome was the establishment of the Caribbean Operational WIS Engineering Team (COWET), a regional community of practice designed to support continued implementation of WIS 2.0. Countries also agreed on a common implementation framework and priorities for expanding the exchange of AWS, upper-air, radar, climate, aviation and CAP data.
This strengthened foundation of data exchange is being matched by efforts to improve how severe weather is forecast and coordinated across the region. The Severe Weather Forecasting Programme (SWFP)-Caribbean Operational Testbed Workshop, held from 15-17 June in Barbados, brought together representatives of 14 Caribbean NMHSs and forecasting entities. Practical simulations, severe-weather case studies and exercises supported the transition of the Severe Weather Forecasting Programme SWFP-Caribbean towards operational implementation. An operational coordination mechanism was also established to facilitate continued communication among forecasters, national focal points and regional forecasting centres. The result is a stronger framework for turning regional forecasting expertise into coordinated operational action during severe-weather events.
June also highlighted the importance of engaging the next generation in disaster preparedness. Youth engagement activities gaine international recognition when the Caribbean Lightning Safety Awareness Contest was featured in the COPE Disaster Champions - Lightning publication launched on 30 June, highlighting Caribbean experience in disaster preparedness education for children.
Project coordination and Caribbean innovation
The project partners met in Barbados on 1-2 July to review implementation progress, including the project timeline, technical and financial status and outstanding activities. The meeting brought together representatives from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO) and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and provided an opportunity to clarify responsibilities, align priorities and agree on actions for the remaining implementation period.
The focus on practical, locally developed solutions continued with a visit to Barbados Meteorological Services on 3 July. These included 3D-printed components for automatic weather stations, marine observation technologies and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The visit highlighted the potential of Barbados Meteorological Services as an example of home-grown technological innovation and emerging regional leadership, demonstrating how Caribbean Meteorological Services can combine operational expertise, engineering and new technologies to develop solutions tailored to Small Island Developing States.
Bringing impact-based warnings to national level
August marked an important transition from regional capacity development to putting impact-based warning approaches into practice at national level.
A four-country series of national workshops on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Impact-Based Forecast and Warning Services (IBFWS) is bringing together meteorological services, disaster management authorities and other key sectors to strengthen coordination and improve how warnings reach people and communities. The workshops are taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica.
The workshops are designed to strengthen coordination among meteorological services, disaster management authorities and other key sectors, while integrating impact information into warning messages and establishing clearer responsibilities and decision triggers. Together, these national activities are helping translate regional knowledge and tools into warning systems that are more coordinated, actionable and responsive to the needs of people at risk.
From stronger data-sharing and forecasting to improved warning communication and national implementation, the progress made between May and August reflects a connected approach to building more effective early warning systems across the Caribbean. CREWS Caribbean 2.0 is helping strengthen the links between the information generated by meteorological services, the decisions made by authorities and the actions people can take to stay safe.
