BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – RESIDENTS of St. Kitts and Nevis are being warned that a low pressure area is currently moving eastward from the Lesser Antilles into the Atlantic Ocean and is deemed by forecasters as having a very high percentage of developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours.
Speculations are high that a tropical depression could form tonight (July 31) or sometime tomorrow if the current conditions continue.
According to a release from the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida, “An elongated area of low pressure extending from the Lesser Antilles eastward, several hundred miles into the tropical Atlantic Ocean, is producing a large but disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms.”
The release also stated that conditions are expected to remain favourable for a tropical depression or tropical storm to form and “this system has a high chance (90 percent) of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours as it moves west-northwestward at around 15 mph”.
It states that if the system becomes a tropical cyclone tonight or tomorrow, tropical storm watchers or warnings would be issued for portions of the Northern Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands on very short notice and interest in these areas should closely monitor the progress of this system.
A hurricane hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate this system early tomorrow morning.
It is warned that regardless of a tropical cyclone formation, this system would bring heavy rainfall and gusty winds to certain sections of the Lesser Antilles tonight and tomorrow.
Residents of St. Kitts and Nevis, especially swimmers and small vessel owners, are therefore advised to take all necessary precautions on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Federation, as wave conditions could become increasingly tumultuous.
