Despite some local media reports to the contrary, Tropical Storm Joyce on Saturday posed little potential threat to the Virgin Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Wobbling and weak, sheared apart by strong low-level east winds, Joyce is now predicted to pass hundreds of miles south of the area, forecaster Richard Pasch of the NHC said late Saturday morning. Though it may gain some strength in the long term, he said, "Joyce has changed little in organization from 24 hours ago. The storm remains quite disorganized."
At 11 a.m., Joyce was located near 10.4 degrees north latitude, 56.1 degrees west longitude, about 350 miles east of Trinidad and moving west near 18 miles per hour. The government of Trinidad has issued a tropical storm warning for Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, though Joyce's top winds have decreased to 40 miles per hour.
The predicted path, Pasch said Saturday, "is somewhat faster than the previous one and adjusted to the south … Since the system is showing no signs of re-intensification at this time, little change in strength is forecast for the next day or so." He noted some consensus between computer forecast models that have Joyce traveling in a west to west-northwest direction; some earlier predictions had the storm veering northwest, closer to the Virgin Islands region.
The next complete advisory from the National Hurricane Center is at 5 p.m. Saturday.
