While the U.S. Virgin Islands was spared direct impacts from Hurricane Lee, which passed well to the north of the territory over the weekend, high seas generated by the storm have led three cruise ships to cancel their upcoming calls to St. Thomas and St. Croix, the V.I. Port Authority announced Monday morning.
Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas has cancelled its visit to the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in Frederiksted, St. Croix, on Tuesday. The Harmony of the Seas has cancelled its call to the Austin “Babe” Monsanto Marine Terminal in Crown Bay, St. Thomas, which also was scheduled for Tuesday. Additionally, Wonder of the Seas has cancelled its call to Crown Bay on Wednesday due to the inclement weather.
The next scheduled cruise ship call to Crown Bay will be on Sept. 19, by the Harmony of the Seas, according to VIPA.
Seas will continue to build into the week as powerful swells generated by Hurricane Lee arrive along the coastlines of the islands, the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, reported.
On Monday seas will be approximately 6 to 8 feet, and occasionally up to 10 feet, with a swell period of 12 seconds. Winds will be out of the south-southwest at about 15 to 20 knots, gusting up to 25 knots.
A Small Craft Advisory, High Surf Advisory, and a High Rip Current Risk warning are in effect for both the USVI and Puerto Rico over the next several days. Swimmers and boaters should exercise extreme caution in or on the water, the NWS said.
“Marine and coastal conditions will deteriorate from today onward. The breaking waves will increase to 14 feet or more tonight across the north-facing beaches of the Atlantic waters through this week. Coastal flooding may affect the most vulnerable areas along the Atlantic coastline of Puerto Rico and the eastern half of St Croix,” according to the NWS.
Lee is forecast to continue to move to the west-northwest before taking a northward turn starting on Tuesday and could impact Bermuda with strong winds, rainfall and high surf later this week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Margot, which formed behind Lee, is forecast to continue its track north, and is not currently a threat to land. The NHC is also monitoring two systems off the west coast of Africa, one of which — Disturbance 1 — has only a 10 percent chance of formation through the next seven days.
Conditions appear conducive for gradual development of Disturbance 2 and a tropical depression could form by the weekend while it moves west to west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph over the central tropical Atlantic, the NHC reported.
