The V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency warned that urban and gut flooding is possible this weekend with the arrival of a strong tropical wave.
According to VITEMA’s news release, as of 8 a.m. Friday the system – designated Invest 97L – was about 1,200 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving westward at about 25 miles per hour. The associated shower activity is poorly organized and given the fast motion of the system any development should be slow to occur.
The system will likely bring showers and gusty winds to portions of the Leeward Islands and the eastern Caribbean Sea during the weekend.
The tropical wave is not expected to develop further but it is forecasted to affect the U.S. Virgin Islands this weekend.
“We don’t think it will develop any further, however, we are expecting a good moisture surge in the area,” said Amaryllis Cotto, forecaster with the U.S. National Weather Service’s San Juan Forecast Office. “The tropical wave is projected to impact the area Saturday night and throughout Sunday. We will see an increase in showers and thunderstorms as well as windy conditions because it’s moving fast. For the U.S.V.I., urban and gut flooding is expected across the area as well some lightning over the surrounding waters and choppy seas, especially near showers and thunderstorms.”
A second tropical wave is also making its way across the Atlantic, bringing more rain and wind. Invest 96-L was centered Friday a couple of hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands. Shower activity associated with the system has become more developed since Thursday, according to the news release, and some additional development is possible during the next day or two. Then the system is expected to encounter a less favorable environment over the central tropical Atlantic next week, reducing the likelihood of further development. The National Weather Service put the chance of formation during the next 48 hours at 40 percent.
Information about the two weather systems and how to prepare for hurricane season is online at www.VITEMA.gov.
