9th August, 2017 -- The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is continuing to monitor Invest 99L, in conjunction with St. Kitts Meteorological Services (SKMS).
At 2 am this morning, Wednesday 9th August, Invest 99L was located at 16.5N, 54.5W or about 600 miles East of St. Kitts and Nevis. At that time, it was moving towards the Northwest at 16 mph with maximum sustained winds of 29 mph.
Satellite imagery this morning showed thunderstorms developing over the centre of the system along with a larger area of thunderstorms, located Northeast of the centre. According to the Met Services, Invest 99L has not yet developed a rotation, which would signal an upgrade in category; despite an increase in thunderstorm activity. The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has given 99L a near 0% chance in 48 hours and a 40% chance, in 5 days, to develop.
The model track and intensity forecasts project 99L passing North of St. Kitts and Nevis as an intense tropical wave or a weak tropical storm, by tomorrow, Thursday.
According to Senior Met Officer (Ag.) Delver Martin, Invest 99L is showing signs of becoming a rain only event, in the Federation. Nevertheless, he advises residents not to let their guard down, as persons may recall from recent flooding events, how damaging and potentially deadly water can be during an impact.
Met Officer Martin states that cloudy to overcast conditions with frequent showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to affect St. Kitts and Nevis by tomorrow night into early Friday morning. The intensity and duration of these conditions are dependent on how close 99L passes to the islands.
Residents of St. Kitts and Nevis are therefore asked to monitor the progress of Invest 99L via local media and to take every precaution to protect lives and property as systems have the potential to upgrade, with little or no warning.
The NEMA will continue to provide information on keeping safe during impact, as necessary.
“We cannot emphasize more to residents, the importance of tuning in to local media for updates on weather systems that affect our Federation from time to time”, National Disaster Coordinator, Carl Herbert said.
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