The rain that began falling early Sunday will continue through Monday as what is now Tropical Storm Tomas draws moisture up from the south, National Weather Service meteorologist Shawn Rossi said Sunday afternoon.
“It looks like another 12 to 24 hours of rain, but it won’t be continuous,” he said.
While the rain won’t be constant, Rossi said, it might be heavy at times.
A flash flood watch is in effect through 6 p.m. Monday. Additionally, a high surf advisory will run from 8 a.m. Monday through 8 a.m. Tuesday, Rossi said.
“You’ll have large breaking waves on the northeast facing coasts,” he said.
According to Rossi, Sunday’s heaviest rain fell east and west of Pillsbury Sound. This means that the eastern end of St. Thomas and the western end of St. John felt the weather the most.
“The airports were largely missed,” he said.
At around 3 p.m. Sunday, he said, radar showed that the eastern end of St. Thomas had received about 6.5 inches of rain since midnight, but the Cyril E. King airport weather station got only 1.38 inches of rain. On St. Croix, Henry E. Rohlsen Airport had .13 inches of rain since midnight. St. John’s Weather Station Zephyr, located at Ajax Peak in the Coral Bay area, had .51 inches of rain since midnight.
At mid-afternoon Sunday, Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said there were no major problems.
“But we’re being vigilant,” he said.
He said there was some flooding on Weymouth Rhymer Highway on St. Thomas, but crews were out clearing the drains.
As for St. John, which experienced numerous mudslides in the early October rains, Smalls said so far, the hills are holding.
“So far, so good,” Coral Bay resident Pam Gaffin added.
Gaffin lives downhill from a large undermined section of Centerline Road. The problem sent waves of mud into her house in the early October rains. Now, whenever it rains she leaves to make sure she’s safe.
“Chunks of asphalt are falling daily,” she said of the undermined area.
