Climate In The Dominican Republic

Living in the Dominican Republic puts you squarely within the hurricane belt. In fact, hurricanes claim a special history in the DR—their name is said or have originated from the indigenous Taino people’s word for the fierce and destructive storms that can batter the island: “hurakans.”

When Europeans arrived in the Caribbean in the 16th century, they had never seen weather to equal a tropical storm and had no word for them.

Hurakan quickly became a borrowed word and was incorporated into Spanish as huracán. Hurricane is the anglicized form.

Generally, hurricane season in the Dominican Republic is from June to November.

Historically the most active month is September, but some of the most severe and destructive storms have come significantly earlier in the year; it’s impossible to predict when the storms will come.

While a major storm hits once every quarter-century, the island is affected by at least outer bands of storms more frequently—close to every five years.

Hurricanes are a part of life in the Dominican Republic and something you’ll need to accept if you want to live here.

It’s important to remember, though, that the island is used to this kind of extreme weather and is well prepared for it.

Construction new and old is up to hurricane code and drainage is sufficient across the country—neither of these things were true even five years ago, but today, the DR is taking this concern seriously and has already corrected problematic infrastructure.