Anyone heading south? I’m heading to Punta Cana early this week for a 24 hour layover (third time this month) but not before I fly to Calgary and back. Just came across Pre-Covid videos as well as my pre-COVID enRoute articles. Seems enRoute is stuck in virtual land and hasn’t made it back the airplanes. Pity.
The Bermuda High sits just north of the Caribbean region but dominates the weather southward. A semi-permanent high-pressure system.
Air moves clockwise and outward, spreading northeast and east winds throughout the Caribbean.
Pilots flying to the Caribbean land east into these winds, called trade winds or northeasterlies. Another dynamic of any high-pressure system is subsidence (slow sinking air) that hinders cloud develop ment and rain.
That ‘s why your vacation weather is usually a car bon copy of the day before. Sometimes a shower is thrown into the equation due to daytime heating.
This article originally appeared in the February 2017 edition of Air Canada’s enRoute Magazine as Takeoff with Captain Doug.
Basking in the sun in Punta Cana.
Captain D practicing his Punta Cana marshalling skills
Pilot Weather Wisdom 
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