March 29, 2004 – While the Virgin Islands won't see anywhere near the amount of rain that fell during last November's torrential rains, downpours on Monday could cause mudslides, said Hector Rivera, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan.
"If there is steep terrain, you can have some landslides," Rivera said.
Rivera added that mudslides happened during the night in the mountainous sections of Puerto Rico. That island is experiencing the same weather as the Virgin Islands.
He said a mid- to upper-level trough is causing the rain, but should start to clear by Monday night.
Rivera said that an estimated 1 to 1.5 inches of rain fell overnight in St. Thomas and St. John, with St. Croix getting over 2 inches.
However, rainfall amounts always vary by location. At Weather Station Zephyr in Coral Bay, St. John, 3.09 inches of rain fell between midnight and 2 p.m. Monday.
Rivera said that larger amounts of rain fell over the ocean, with some areas getting more than four inches.
He said he had no reports of flooding.
The generous rainfall did cause cisterns to overflow at Weather Station Zephyr, and the rain ran downhill like a stream in several areas.
Rivera said he expects a gradual improvement by Monday night.
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