In this paper the analysis and forecasting of wind velocities in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico is presented. Measurements were made by the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) during two years, from 2004 to 2005. This location exemplifies the wind energy generation potential in the Caribbean coast of Mexico that could be employed in the hotel industry in the next decade. The wind speed and wind direction were measured at 10 m above ground level. Sensors with high accuracy and a low starting threshold were used. The wind velocity was recorded using a data acquisition system supplied by a 10 W photovoltaic panel. The wind speed values were measured with a frequency of 1 Hz and the average wind speed was recorded considering regular intervals of 10 min. First a statistical analysis of the time series was made in the first part of the paper through conventional and robust measures. Also the forecasting of the last day of measurements was made utilizing the single exponential smoothing method (SES). The results showed a very good accuracy of the data with this technique for an x value of 0.9. Finally the SES method was compared with the artificial neural network (ANN) method showing the former better results. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.