Oct. 26, 2007 — Rainy weather will continue through Saturday afternoon across the Virgin Islands, with some improvement by Sunday, said Orlando Bermudez, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan.
"There's a lot of moisture across the area," he said.
The wet weather is the result of a low-pressure area that crossed over the Virgin Islands late Thursday and early Friday, Bermudez said. It's now located southwest of Puerto Rico. The low-pressure area will continue to move to the west-southwest, sending rain bands across the territory.
"The rain will be on and off through tomorrow," Bermudez said.
While the National Weather Service office received some reports of flooding on St. Thomas and St. Croix, no reports have come to Alvis Christian, who is serving as acting V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency director in Steve Parris' absence.
"And no rock slides," he said.
St. Croix resident Marti Gotts said it rained hard there overnight.
"The cisterns are overflowing and the grass is growing," she said. "It makes landscapers happy."
Residents need a few rainy days to appreciate the normally sunny weather, Gotts said.
At Weather Station Zephyr on St. John, 0.6 inches of rain fell between midnight and 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Golda Hermon, who was staffing the front desk at the V.I. National Park Visitor's Center in Cruz Bay, said only one person Friday afternoon wanted to know when the rain was going to stop.
The Planning and Natural Resources Department send out a notice Friday advising the public to refrain from swimming, fishing and bathing in coastal waters that have been impacted by storm-water runoff. Planning also advised parents to keep children away from beaches impacted by storm water, as well as areas with manholes and storm-water flooding.
There may be an elevated health risk to anyone swimming in storm-water-impacted areas as a result of increased concentrations of bacteria, according to the news release. People should also be aware that storm-water runoff may contain contaminants or pollutants harmful to human health, and therefore all persons should avoid areas of storm-water runoff such as guts, puddles and drainage basins.
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