Although Tropical Storm Chantal remains on a path that will take the storm’s center south of St. Croix, forecasters predict the big island will see sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts in the 35 to 45 mph range.
“A little less in the northern Virgin Islands,” said Luis Rosa, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The strongest winds will come just before midnight, he said. Rosa said that “right now” St. Croix was experiencing 30 mph winds and rain bands have already reached the island.
Rosa said squalls should start hitting St. Croix around 6 p.m. Tuesday, with squalls hitting St. Thomas and St. John starting at around 7 p.m.
Rosa said the territory should see a total of 1 to 2 inches of rain, with the rain falling at up to 2 inches per hour.
He said most of the heavy rain will come in a three-hour period as the storm passes the territory.
The territory remains on a tropical storm watch, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.
At its closest point, the storm should pass 120 miles to the south-southwest of St. Croix at around 9 p.m. Tuesday. On St. Thomas, the closest point will pass 160 miles south-southwest between 10 and 11 p.m.
For St. John, the closest point will come at around the same time when it passes 165 miles to the south-southwest.
As of the 2 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, Chantal’s winds had reached 65 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend outward 90 miles to the northeast of the center. It was moving west-northwest at 29 mph. The barometric pressure stands at 1006 millibars.
The storm was centered at 14.8 degrees north latitude and 62.7 degrees west longitude, putting it 240 miles southeast of St. Croix, at 2 p.m.
Early Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that all ports were now open to outbound vessels only, with commercial inbound vessels prohibited from entering the territory’s ports. The restriction does not impact ferries between St. Thomas and St. John, which are continuing to operate.
The Coast Guard urged leisure craft operators to seek safe harbor. Owners of larger boats are urged to move their boats to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or sustaining damage.
Boats that can be put on trailers should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to secure life rings, lifejackets and dinghies. These items, if not secured properly, can break free and divert valuable search and rescue resources from assisting people who may actually be in distress.
The V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday afternoon that it would open its Emergency Operations Center on St. Croix at 5 p.m.
The St. Thomas and St. John Emergency Operations Centers will remain on standby until further notice.
According to the press release, VITEMA Director Elton Lewis requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency Caribbean Area Division at San Juan deploy an Incident Management Assistance Team to St. Croix. He expects it to be deployed Tuesday.
