Dec. 14, 2001 – Don't look for any improvements in the weather over the weekend.
Dan Gregoria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said another one of the series of troughs that has dumped intermittent rain on the territory all week will move slowly through the Virgin Islands on Saturday and Sunday.
"You may see locally heavy rainfall," Gregoria said, adding that thunder and lighting are also possibilities. He said the likelihood of rain is 70 percent on Saturday and 60 percent on Sunday, then it will drop to 50 percent early next week.
"There's a lot of moisture, and it's going to linger," Gregoria said.
The temperature reported by the National Weather Service for St. Thomas at 7 p.m. was 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The predicted lows for the territory Friday and Saturday night are 70 to 75.
The steady, sometimes extremely heavy, downpours on St. Thomas throughout the week turned North Side guts into gurgling waterfalls and sent rocks and rubble tumbling down hillsides. Spirits that were high early in the week at the prospect of filling cisterns had begun to turn glum by Friday as the rain continued. The weather service warned of possible flash flooding and mudslides across the Virgin Islands.
On St. Croix, the week saw alternating rain and sunshine, and by Friday it was sunny and "hot as hell" according to one tourist. St. Croix did not experience the heavy downpours that landed on St. Thomas and St. John.
Although St. Thomas and St. John residents were generally pleased to see their cisterns overflowing, visitors were less impressed. Kathy Demar, who manages vacation villas on St. John, said she has heard a lot of grumbling from her guests. "It's making me nervous," she said.
Demar said she fears first-time visitors won't want to return, because all they'll remember is not only wet but also chilly weather. One couple, she said, told her they would have stayed home if they had known they would have to keep their doors closed in order to stay warm.
