☁️ Cayman Islands to build new $6M weather research centre

The Cayman Islands National Weather Service (CINWS) has started construction on a new multi-million-dollar weather facility. The groundbreaking ceremony took place last week, over three years after planning permission was granted. The contract for the new centre, worth over CI$6 million, was awarded to Build Cayman Limited, with completion expected in 2024. The new centre is part of the government's future-proofing plans to increase resilience for the growing, critical weather service. 🚧

The new building will include facilities for 24-hour operations, essential for providing accurate meteorological observations for safe air travel and during severe weather events. The centre will also feature sustainability measures, including environmentally-friendly building materials, energy and water efficient design elements, and opportunities to utilise renewable energy and rainwater harvesting. The current RCIPS traffic building on the site will be demolished to make way for the new centre. 🏢

The new centre will be located on Lyndhurst Avenue, across from the airport, providing easy access to key emergency and aviation services. It will also house essential monitoring and observation equipment, and an Automatic Weather Observation Station (AWOS), which records and transmits data in real time to the CINWS team. The facility will allow senior staff to better support significant regional roles and improve efficiency in data collection and response times for accurate weather forecasting. 🌤️